Estonian Food & Grocery Vocabulary: Shop and Cook in Estonian
Food is the vocabulary you use most
You shop and eat every day, so food words repay learning faster than almost any other category. Learn a handful before your next trip to the pood (shop) and you will use them within the hour.
Here are the essentials, grouped the way they sit on the shelves.
Fruit and vegetables
- õun, apple
- banaan, banana
- tomat, tomato
- porgand, carrot
- kartul, potato
- sibul, onion
- salat, lettuce/salad
- mustikas, blueberry
Staples and the fridge
- leib, bread
- piim, milk
- juust, cheese
- või, butter
- muna, egg
- kohv, coffee
- vesi, water
- liha, meat
Useful phrases at the shop
- Kui palju see maksab?, How much is this?
- Kus on...?, Where is...?
- Kas ma saan...?, May I have...?
- Ei, aitäh., No thank you.
- Aitäh., Thank you.
Remember them where you will use them
Attach each word to the place you meet it, the market stall, the fridge shelf, the plate. That is why a market scene beats a market word list: your memory of "porgand" comes back the moment you see carrots, exactly when you need it.
Practise food words in an Estonian market
EstoniaSpeak's market, grocery and produce scenes teach food vocabulary the way you meet it in real life. Free to start.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say food in Estonian?
Food is toit. "I'm hungry" is Mul on kõht tühi, and "Enjoy your meal" is Head isu.
How do I ask for the price in Estonian?
Say Kui palju see maksab? (How much is this?). Answers come in euros, so knowing your Estonian numbers helps.
Is Estonian food vocabulary hard?
The words are unfamiliar because Estonian shares no roots with English, but food words are concrete and repeat constantly in daily life, which makes them some of the easiest and most rewarding Estonian vocabulary to learn first.