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РусскийEstonian vocabulary test: how many words do you know?
Check every word you know at least one meaning of — we’ll estimate the size of your Estonian vocabulary and match it to a level. About two minutes, no signup.
How it works
The list holds 80 Estonian words, from everyday to very rare, sampled across the frequency ranks of the language.
Check a word only if you could give at least one of its meanings. Be honest — nobody is grading you.
From the share of words you know at each frequency level we estimate your total passive vocabulary.
Check a word only if you could give at least one of its meanings.
Each part mixes everyday and very rare words — it’s fine not to know the rare ones.
Each part mixes everyday and very rare words — it’s fine not to know the rare ones.
Each part mixes everyday and very rare words — it’s fine not to know the rare ones.
Each part mixes everyday and very rare words — it’s fine not to know the rare ones.
Your result
words — the estimated size of your passive Estonian vocabulary
This estimates passive vocabulary — words you recognize, not necessarily use. The method is frequency sampling with extrapolation, the same as classic vocabulary tests.
How the test estimates your vocabulary
Words in a language can be ranked by how often they occur. The test samples 80 words across those ranks — from the everyday core to words most native speakers rarely meet.
For each frequency band we take the share of words you checked and extend it over the whole band; summed up, that is the size of your passive vocabulary. With 80 samples the number is an estimate, not a measurement — but it is stable enough to track progress if you answer the same way each time.
What counts as a word in Estonian
Estonian is not Indo-European: it is a Finnic language, close to Finnish, so speakers of English or Russian meet few familiar roots outside German and Russian loans. A noun has fourteen cases — maja, majja, majas, majast — and they all count as one word. Compounds are everywhere (raamatukogu, “library”, is book + collection); knowing the roots, you read them for free.
Sample words from the dictionary
Average vocabulary size: reference points
Passive vocabulary of learners and native speakers, in word families — the same scale the test uses.
| beginner level (A1) | 300 – 800 |
| elementary level (A2) | 1 500 – 2 500 |
| intermediate level (B1) | 2 500 – 5 000 |
| upper-intermediate level (B2) | 5 000 – 9 000 |
| advanced level (C1) | 9 000 – 15 000 |
| near-native range (C2) | 15 000 – 20 000 |
| Adult native speaker | 20 000 – 35 000 |
Test another language
Questions
How accurate is the test?
Within roughly ±20%. Self-assessment tests are estimates: the honesty of your checks matters more than the math. Taken the same way over time, it tracks progress well.
What counts as “knowing” a word?
You could give at least one of its meanings out of context. You do not need to spell it perfectly or use it in speech.
How many Estonian words do you need?
Around 1,000 words cover most everyday speech, 3,000–5,000 give comfortable comprehension of films and books, and educated native speakers recognize 20,000–35,000.
Why are some words so strange?
Every part includes words from frequency ranks 20,000 and beyond — words even many native speakers rarely use. They measure the upper edge of large vocabularies.
Is the test free?
Yes — free, no signup, right in the browser. You can retake it as often as you like.