The article compares the use of total and partial objects by L2 and L1 speakers of Estonian. For the purposes of the article, L2 speakers of Estonian are native speakers of Russian who are pursuing a programme of studies in Estonian as a foreign language and who possess an advanced knowledge of Estonian. They are fully conversant with Estonian grammar and the usage rules of objects in Estonian. L1 speakers of Estonian are students of various specialities from the universities in Tartu and in Tallinn. The article analyses answers given by the participants in the multiple choice test and grammaticality judgement test. The choices made by L2 and L1 learners of Estonian in the use of total and partial objects showed considerable variation, which means that this aspect of grammar is one of the most difficult ones for learners of Estonian. Th e choices made by the Russian-speaking students diff ered from those of Estonian-speaking students in three aspects: 1) they tended to overuse partial objects in the context of total objects; 2) they made mistakes in selecting the object case of a total object; 3) they used total objects in certain contexts requiring partitive ones. The two groups used objects similarly in negative sentences and with certain partitive verbs.