Saavutasime

Saavutasime is an Estonian verb form derived from saavutama, meaning to reach or to achieve. It is the first-person plural past tense, indicating that the speaker and at least one other person completed an action in the past. In English, it is commonly translated as "we achieved." It is not the present perfect; for "we have achieved" Estonian uses a different construction with the verb olema and the past participle.

Morphology and usage notes: The form saumatically marks a completed past action by a plural subject. For other persons or numbers, Estonian has corresponding forms such as saavutasin (I achieved), saavutasid (you achieved), saavutasime (we achieved), saavutasid (you all achieved), saavutasid (they achieved). The verb saavutama belongs to the class of athematic or semi-regular Estonian verbs and forms regular past tense endings in line with other verbs of similar conjugation. To express a present perfect meaning like "we have achieved," Estonian typically uses oleme saavutanud, combining olema with the past participle saavutanud.

Etymology: The verb saavutama is related to the noun saavutus (achievement, attainment), both deriving from a root connected to the idea of reaching or obtaining. The participial noun forms such as saavutus are commonly used to denote the result of achieving.

Examples: Me saavutasime eesmärgi. (We achieved the goal.) Ta ütles, et nad saavutasid märkimisväärse spordisaavutatuse. (They stated that they achieved a notable sporting success.) In journalism and narrative, saavutasime appears when recounting past milestones.

See also: saavutus, saavutama, Estonian verb conjugation.