abi (“help”) + kaasa (“companion”)
abikaasa (genitive abikaasa, partitive abikaasat)
Estonian often doesn't distinguish gender, so it is common to refer to a husband or wife just as a spouse. Making explicit reference to the spouse's gender (using the synonyms listed above) can be seen as informal or even rude.
| Declension of abikaasa (ÕS type 16/pere, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | abikaasa | abikaasad | |
| accusative | nom. | ||
| gen. | abikaasa | ||
| genitive | abikaasade | ||
| partitive | abikaasat | abikaasasid | |
| illative | abikaasasse | abikaasadesse | |
| inessive | abikaasas | abikaasades | |
| elative | abikaasast | abikaasadest | |
| allative | abikaasale | abikaasadele | |
| adessive | abikaasal | abikaasadel | |
| ablative | abikaasalt | abikaasadelt | |
| translative | abikaasaks | abikaasadeks | |
| terminative | abikaasani | abikaasadeni | |
| essive | abikaasana | abikaasadena | |
| abessive | abikaasata | abikaasadeta | |
| comitative | abikaasaga | abikaasadega | |