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must

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English moste ("must", literally, "had to", the past tense of Middle English moten (“to have to”)), from Old English mōste (“had to”), 1st & 3rd person singular past tense of mōtan (“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, must, may”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną. Cognate with Dutch moest (“had to”), German musste (“had to”), Swedish måste (“must, have to, be obliged to”). More at mote.

Alternative forms

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Verb

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must (third-person singular simple present must, no present participle, simple past must, no past participle)

  1. (modal auxiliary, defective) To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.
    You must arrive in class on time. (the requirement is an imperative)
    This door handle must be rotated fully. (the requirement is a directive, necessary to operate the handle)
  2. (modal auxiliary, defective) To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.
    If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
    You picked one of two, and it wasn't the first: it must have been the second.
  3. (modal auxiliary, defective) Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
    The children must be asleep by now.
Usage notes
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  • (auxiliary, to do as a requirement): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating mere intent for the predicate’s execution; and stronger auxiliary verb will, indicating that the negative consequence will be unusually severe.
  • (auxiliary, to do with certainty): Compare with weaker auxiliary verb should, indicating a strong probability of the predicate’s execution.
  • The past tense of “must” is also “must”. In main clauses, this use of the past tense is almost always literary (see King James Bible, Leiber, and Alcott quotations at Citations:must). In subordinate clauses, it is more common: He knew that he must come, but he never showed up. Otherwise, the past sense is usually conveyed by had to. It is possible to use was bound to for the past also. For this reason, have to and be bound to are also used as alternatives to must in the present and future.
  • The principal verb, if easily supplied (especially go), may be omitted. In modern usage this is mainly literary (see Housman and Tolkien quotations at Citations:must).
  • Must is unusual in its negation: must not still expresses a definite certainty or requirement. Need and have to, on the other hand, are negated in the usual manner. Compare:
You must not read that book. (It is necessary that you not read that book.)
You need not read that book. / You do not have to read that book. (It is not necessary that you read that book.)
  • The second-person singular (thou being the subject) no longer adds -est (as it did in Old English).
Conjugation
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Conjugation of must
infinitive —
present tense past tense
1st-person singular must, mote† must
2nd-person singular must, mote†, motest†
3rd-person singular must, mote†
plural must, mote†
subjunctive must, mote† must
imperative —
participles —

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
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Translations
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See also
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Noun

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must (plural musts)

  1. Something that is mandatory or required.
    Synonyms: imperative, necessity
    Antonym: no-no
    Hyponyms: must-do, must-have, must-see
    If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.
    • 1932, Helen Vinson, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang:
      "There are no musts in my life - I'm free, white, and twenty-one."
Descendants
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  • → French: must
  • → Finnish: must
Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English must, from Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.

Noun

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must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)

  1. The property of being stale or musty.
  2. Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
  4. Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes.
    • c. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ovid in Exile:
      No sweet grape lies hidden here in the shade of its vine-leaves,
      No fermenting must fills and o'erflows the deep vats.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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must (third-person singular simple present musts, present participle musting, simple past and past participle musted)

  1. (transitive) To make musty.
  2. (intransitive) To become musty.
Further reading
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Etymology 3

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From Persian مست (mast, “drunk, inebriated”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭮𐭲 (mast).

Noun

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must (countable and uncountable, plural musts)

  1. Alternative form of musth
    • 1936, George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant, an essay in the magazine New Writing:
      It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’.

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From English must, from Old English mōste, from the past tense of Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, whence native moeten.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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must m (plural musts)

  1. a must (necessity, prerequisite)
    Synonym: moetje
    Een rijbewijs is een must als je taxichauffeur wil worden.
    A driver's license is a must if you want to be a taxi driver.

Estonian

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *musta. Cognate with Finnish musta, Veps must and Livonian mustā. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *mus-ta-, compare Norwegian Bokmål must (“steam, fume, mist”).[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmust/
  • Hyphenation: must

Adjective

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must (genitive musta, partitive musta, comparative mustem, superlative kõige mustem or mustim)

  1. black (color)
    Lindude sulestik on must, aga tiibadel märkame valget laiku.
    The plumage of the birds is black, but you can notice a white spot on the wings.
  2. Dark, without light, illumination (and poorly visible).
    Mustad sügisööd.
    Dark autumn nights.
    1. Without snow.
      Maa on must ja kelgutada ei saa.
      The ground is without snow and you can't go sledding.
  3. Having dark skin.
    Must poiss muudkui naeris.
    The black kid kept laughing.
  4. Dirty, unclean, full of garbage and/or grime.
    Synonym: räpane
    Mu riided said mustaks ja pidin neid pesema.
    My clothes became dirty and I had to wash them.
    1. Not requiring special skills, making something or someone dirty.
      Hauakaevaja must töö.
      The dirty job of a gravedigger.
  5. Grim, dreary, hopeless, without any (good) solution.
    Meeleolu on must.
    The mood around here is dark.
    1. Illegal, unofficial, disgraceful.
      Kartsin, et mu mustad teod tulevad päevavalgele.
      I feared, that my dark acts will come to light.

Declension

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Declension of must (ÕS type 22i/külm, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative must mustad
accusative nom.
gen. musta
genitive mustade
partitive musta musti
mustasid
illative musta
mustasse 		mustadesse
mustisse
inessive mustas mustades
mustis
elative mustast mustadest
mustist
allative mustale mustadele
mustile
adessive mustal mustadel
mustil
ablative mustalt mustadelt
mustilt
translative mustaks mustadeks
mustiks
terminative mustani mustadeni
essive mustana mustadena
abessive mustata mustadeta
comitative mustaga mustadega

Noun

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must (genitive musta, partitive musta)

  1. The color black.
    Halli värvi kombineerdes musta ja valgega suurendad enda usaldatavust.
    By combining gray with black and white, you increase your own reliability.
  2. Something colored in black.
    Otsustasime, kumb mängib valgete, kumb mustadega.
    We decided, who plays with whites (white chesspieces), and who plays with blacks (black chesspieces).
  3. A person having dark skin.
    Meie tulevikulootus ei ole enam lapsed, vaid hoopis mustad.
    Our hopes for the future aren't our children anymore, but blacks.

Declension

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Declension of must (ÕS type 22i/külm, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative must mustad
accusative nom.
gen. musta
genitive mustade
partitive musta musti
mustasid
illative musta
mustasse 		mustadesse
mustisse
inessive mustas mustades
mustis
elative mustast mustadest
mustist
allative mustale mustadele
mustile
adessive mustal mustadel
mustil
ablative mustalt mustadelt
mustilt
translative mustaks mustadeks
mustiks
terminative mustani mustadeni
essive mustana mustadena
abessive mustata mustadeta
comitative mustaga mustadega

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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See also

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Colors in Estonian · värvid (layout · text)
     valge      hall      must
             punane; karmiinpunane              oranž; pruun              kollane; kreem
             laimiroheline, kollakasroheline              roheline              mündiroheline; tumeroheline
             tsüaansinine, rohekassinine; sinakasroheline, siniroheline              taevasinine, taevassinine              sinine
             lilla, violetne; potisinine, indigosinine              fuksia, magentapunane; lilla, purpurne, purpurpunane              roosa

References

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  1. ^ http://eki.ee/dict/ety/index.cgi?Q=must&F=M&C06=en

Finnish

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English must.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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must (colloquial)

  1. must (something mandatory or required)
    Se on ihan must!
    It's a must!
Declension
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  • Not inflected.
Synonyms
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Further reading

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Etymology 2

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A variant of musta < minusta (“of me”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmust/, [ˈmus̠t]
  • Rhymes: -ust
  • Hyphenation(key): must

Pronoun

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must

  1. (colloquial) elative singular of mä
    Must on tärkeetä, että.. / Minusta on tärkeää, että... (standard)
    I think it is important that...

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English must.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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must m (plural musts)

  1. (informal) that which is compulsory; an obligation; duty; must
    Synonyms: essentiel, impératif
    • 2003, Élisabeth Badinter, Fausse route, Odile Jacob, →ISBN:
      Comme le fait remarquer Daphne Patai, Loïs Pineau, contrairement à Catherine MacKinnon, postule que les femmes sont tout à fait capables de donner un consentement explicite et verbal sans en rester au geste et au sous-entendu. Non seulement l’explicitation n’est pas un problème, mais c’est un must.
      As Daphne Patai points out, Loïs Pineau, unlike Catherine MacKinnon, postulates that women are entirely capable of giving explicit and verbal consent without relying on gesture and insinuation. Not only is explanation not a problem, but it's a must.
  2. (often humorous) must-have (item that one must own)
    • 2014, Annie Ernaux, Regarde les lumières mon amour, Seuil, →ISBN, page 62:
      La fête des Mères s’affiche partout dans le centre commercial. À Auchan, un espace lui est réservé, rempli de robots, d’aspirateurs, de machines à café – le must apparemment – parfums, etc.
      Mother's Day is on display everywhere in the mall. At Auchan, a space is reserved for it, filled with appliances, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers — the apparent must-have — perfumes, etc.

Hungarian

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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must (usually uncountable, plural mustok)

  1. must (sweet fresh grape juice that has not fermented yet)

Declension

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Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative must mustok
accusative mustot mustokat
dative mustnak mustoknak
instrumental musttal mustokkal
causal-final mustért mustokért
translative musttá mustokká
terminative mustig mustokig
essive-formal mustként mustokként
essive-modal — —
inessive mustban mustokban
superessive muston mustokon
adessive mustnál mustoknál
illative mustba mustokba
sublative mustra mustokra
allative musthoz mustokhoz
elative mustból mustokból
delative mustról mustokról
ablative musttól mustoktól
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		musté mustoké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		mustéi mustokéi
Possessive forms of must
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. mustom mustjaim
2nd person sing. mustod mustjaid
3rd person sing. mustja mustjai
1st person plural mustunk mustjaink
2nd person plural mustotok mustjaitok
3rd person plural mustjuk mustjaik

Further reading

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  • must in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Ludian

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *musta.

Adjective

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must

  1. black

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English must and Old French must, most, both from Latin mustum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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must (uncountable)

  1. must (wine that is not fully fermented)
  2. (rare, with qualifier) fruit juice

Descendants

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References

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin mustum, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mews- (“damp”).

Noun

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must n (plural musturi)

  1. unfermented wine; grape or other fruit juice
  2. must (of grapes)

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative must mustul musturi musturile
genitive-dative must mustului musturi musturilor
vocative mustule musturilor

Derived terms

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See also

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Swedish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse muster, moster, from Latin mustum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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must c (uncountable)

  2. (drink made from) fruit or berry juice (that has been prevented from fermenting)
  3. a kind of soft drink, more commonly known as julmust

Declension

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Declension of must
nominative genitive
singular indefinite must musts
definite musten mustens
plural indefinite — —
definite — —

See also

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References

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Anagrams

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Veps

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *musta.

Adjective

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must

  1. black

Inflection

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Inflection of must (inflection type 6/kuva)
nominative sing. must
genitive sing. mustan
partitive sing. mustad
partitive plur. mustid
singular plural
nominative must mustad
accusative mustan mustad
genitive mustan mustiden
partitive mustad mustid
essive-instructive mustan mustin
translative mustaks mustikš
inessive mustas mustiš
elative mustaspäi mustišpäi
illative mustaha
mustha 		mustihe
adessive mustal mustil
ablative mustalpäi mustilpäi
allative mustale mustile
abessive mustata mustita
comitative mustanke mustidenke
prolative mustadme mustidme
approximative I mustanno mustidenno
approximative II mustannoks mustidennoks
egressive mustannopäi mustidennopäi
terminative I mustahasai
musthasai 		mustihesai
terminative II mustalesai mustilesai
terminative III mustassai —
additive I mustahapäi
musthapäi 		mustihepäi
additive II mustalepäi mustilepäi

Derived terms

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Noun

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must

  1. black

Inflection

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Inflection of must (inflection type 6/kuva)
nominative sing. must
genitive sing. mustan
partitive sing. mustad
partitive plur. mustid
singular plural
nominative must mustad
accusative mustan mustad
genitive mustan mustiden
partitive mustad mustid
essive-instructive mustan mustin
translative mustaks mustikš
inessive mustas mustiš
elative mustaspäi mustišpäi
illative mustaha
mustha 		mustihe
adessive mustal mustil
ablative mustalpäi mustilpäi
allative mustale mustile
abessive mustata mustita
comitative mustanke mustidenke
prolative mustadme mustidme
approximative I mustanno mustidenno
approximative II mustannoks mustidennoks
egressive mustannopäi mustidennopäi
terminative I mustahasai
musthasai 		mustihesai
terminative II mustalesai mustilesai
terminative III mustassai —
additive I mustahapäi
musthapäi 		mustihepäi
additive II mustalepäi mustilepäi

References

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  • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “чёрный”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎[2], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Volapük

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Noun

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must (nominative plural musts)

  1. must (new wine; sweet cider)

Declension

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declension of must
singular plural
nominative must musts
genitive musta mustas
dative muste mustes
accusative musti mustis
vocative 1 o must! o musts!
predicative 2 mustu mustus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Võro

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *musta.

Adjective

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must (genitive musta, partitive musta)

  1. black (colour)

Inflection

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Inflection of must
singular plural
nominative must mustaq
accusative musta mustaq
genitive musta muste
partitive musta muste
illative musta muste
mustehe
inessive mustan
mustahn 		musten
mustehn
elative mustast mustest
allative mustalõ mustelõ
adessive mustal mustel
ablative mustalt mustelt
translative mustas mustes
terminative mustaniq musteniq
abessive mustaldaq musteldaq
comitative mustagaq mustegaq
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