Lopettivat

Lopettivat is a Finnish verb form meaning “they stopped” or “they ended.” It is the third-person plural, imperfect indicative active form of the verb lopettaa, which means to stop, terminate, or bring to an end. The form is used to describe actions in the past carried out by multiple subjects. In Finnish, the past tense for this verb is formed with the stem lopetta- plus the ending -ivat for the 3rd person plural.

Lopettaa is a transitive verb, so lopettivat commonly appears with a direct object, such as a project, program, or activity. The sentence structure typically follows Subject + lopettivat + object, for example: He lopettivat projektin viime viikolla (They stopped the project last week). The same verb can appear in other past-person forms, for instance lopetin (I stopped), lopetit (you stopped), lopetti (he/she stopped), or lopetimme (we stopped).

Usage notes include that lopettivat is appropriate for completed past actions by multiple subjects and is suitable in both formal and informal contexts. It can describe stopping ongoing activities, suspending services, or ending practices, policies, or initiatives. In contrast, other tenses or moods (such as the present or conditional forms) are used to express different temporal or hypothetical nuances.

Etymology traces lopettaa to the idea of bringing something to an end, with the -tta- suffix common in Finnish causative-like verbs derived from endings indicating action.