Jättivät

Jättivät is the imperfect tense form of the Finnish verb jättää, meaning “to leave,” “to abandon,” or “to leave behind,” depending on context. It is used with a plural subject to indicate a past action, equivalent to “they left” in English. As a transitive verb, jättää typically takes a direct object and is often accompanied by a phrase indicating location or outcome.

Uses of jättivät span a range of senses. They can refer to physically leaving something somewhere, such as leaving an item behind; to abandoning or deserting someone or something; or to ending involvement with a person, project, or organization. In many sentences the nuance depends on the object and surrounding context, from leaving a door unlocked to dropping out of a program.

Examples:

- He jättivät avaimet pöydälle. They left the keys on the table.

- He jättivät kaupungin taakseen ja muutti toiseen kaupunkiin. They left the city behind and moved to another city.

- He jättivät projektin kesken. They left the project unfinished.

- He jättivät minut yksin. They left me alone.

Notes for usage:

In Finnish, -ivät is a standard suffix for the third-person plural imperfect. The object of jättää can appear in genitive or partitive forms depending on definiteness and structure, and accompanying phrases indicate where or what was left.