Otevírali

Otevírali is a Czech verb form. It is the past tense, imperfective aspect, active voice, 3rd person plural of the verb otevírat, which means to open. The form is used with masculine or mixed-gender subject groups; feminine plural would be otevíraly.

Grammatical features include its aspect and tense. As an imperfective past tense, otevírali describes an action that was ongoing, repeated, or not fully completed in the past. It does not by itself mark a single completed event; for a completed opening, the perfective form otevřeli would be used.

In usage, otevírali appears in narrative or descriptive contexts to set scenes or describe background actions. It can convey simultaneity with another past event or habitual past action, depending on context. The form changes with gender and number in the past tense: otevírali for masculine or mixed groups, otevíraly for feminine groups.

Related forms include otevírat (the imperfective infinitive), otóvírání (the act of opening, nominalized), and the perfective counterpart is otevřít, with past tense forms such as otevřeli (they opened) for completed actions. Present tense forms of the same verb include otevírám (I open), otevíráš (you open), otevírá (he/she opens).

Overall, otevírali is a common example of Czech past tense morphology showing how aspect and agreement dictate form in plural subject contexts.