ilus
The English word beautiful can be translated into Estonian as ilus or kaunis.
Meaning: attractive (adj)
Ways to say it
| Estonian | IPA |
|---|---|
| ilus | |
| kaunis | /ˈkɑu̯nis/ |
Both ilus and kaunis are used to describe something attractive. You can emphasize this by adding the word väga before the adjective to say 'very beautiful'.
Which one should you use?
ilus is the most common way to describe something as beautiful or lovely, often used for people, scenery or objects. kaunis is often used to describe aesthetic beauty, such as a pretty pattern, a beautiful face or something visually pleasing.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective ilus changes form depending on its use in a sentence: the plural form is ilusad and the genitive or partitive form is ilusa. The word kaunis also has plural forms such as kaunid or kauniid, depending on the declension of the noun it describes.
Did you know?
- The word kaunis can function as an adverb meaning 'quite' or 'fairly' when used to modify another adjective, regardless of whether beauty is involved.
- The word kaunis shares a common ancestor with the English word 'scion' and the German 'schön'. It was borrowed into early Finnic languages from a Proto-Germanic source.
- In Estonian, ilus is frequently used to describe the weather, such as ilus ilm for 'beautiful weather', whereas kaunis is rarely used in this specific context.
Examples in context
- See aed on ilus.This garden is beautiful.This sentence is useful for describing the beauty of a garden using ilus.Tatoeba #9114188 by Reesi, translation #7850482 by Hybrid
- Ta on ilus naine.She is a beautiful woman.This sentence is useful for describing a person using ilus.Tatoeba #2787058 by hubin, translation #1099054 by Eldad
- See roos on ilus.This rose is beautiful.This sentence is useful for describing the beauty of a rose using ilus.Tatoeba #5092368 by morel, translation #56428 by CK
- Sa oled nii kenaYou are so beautiful
- Ilus metsBeautiful forest
- 27 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mari and Toomas are walking through a park.
- MariVaata, kui ilus see park on!Look how beautiful this park is!
- ToomasJah, siin on tõesti ilus.Yes, it is truly beautiful here.
- MariMa armastan seda ilust atmosfääri.I love this beautiful atmosphere.
- ToomasMul on samasugune tunne.I feel the same way.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “beautiful” translations and entries ilus, kaunis, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ilus, kaunis, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
