No. 541 in Estonian
ootavad
"Ootavad" means "they wait" or "are waiting" in English.
In a sentence
Lapsed ootavad koolibussi peatuse juures.
The children are waiting for the school bus at the stop.
In this sentence, 'ootavad' is the third person plural form of the verb 'oota', which means 'to wait'. It is used here to describe an action performed by multiple people (the children) of being in anticipation of the arrival of the school bus.
Mats ja Laura ootavad suvepuhkust rõõmuga.
Mats and Laura await the summer holidays with joy.
Here, 'ootavad' conveys the anticipation of a future event by Mats and Laura, emphasizing their emotional state tied to the upcoming event.
Nad ootavad, et rong jõuaks õigeks ajaks.
They are expecting the train to arrive on time.
In this context, 'ootavad' is used to express expectations regarding a specific outcome, namely the punctual arrival of a train.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “ootavad” in actual Estonian podcasts.
Find “ootavad” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays Estonian podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Estonian books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).