Napodobovaly

Napodobovaly is a form of the Czech verb napodobovat, meaning to imitate, copy, or mimic. It represents the past tense, feminine plural form used when the subject is a group of females (or a feminine plural subject) and describes actions in the past in which they imitated or copied something.

Origin and grammar: Napodobovat is built from the root podoba (likeness) with the prefix na- and the common Czech verb-forming suffix -ovat. The past-tense form napodobovaly agrees with the subject in gender and number, so it appears in contexts where the subject is feminine plural. The imperfective nature of napodobovat means it describes ongoing or repeated imitation rather than a single completed act; the perfective counterpart is napodobit, which emphasizes a single act of imitation.

Usage: Napodobovaly is used to report that a group of females (or a feminine plural subject) imitated another person, action, or style. It can refer to social imitation, copying techniques, or mimicking behavior in daily life, education, performance, or art. The term commonly occurs in narrative and descriptive prose.

Examples:

- Dívky napodobovaly jejich kroky z televizního vystoupení.

- Učitelky napodobovaly metody starších kolegů.

Related forms: napodobovat (infinitive), napodobil/napodobila/napodobovali (masculine or mixed-gender past forms), and napodobit (perfective). The noun form napodobování means imitation or mimicking as a concept.