Stretávajú

Stretávajú is the present tense, third-person plural form of the Slovak verb stretávať, meaning to meet or to encounter. The verb is imperfective, used to describe meeting that is habitual, repeated, or general rather than a single, completed event. It can take a direct object, as in they meet someone, or be used with the reflexive clitic sa to express mutual meetings, as in they meet each other.

In usage, stretávajú often appears in statements about routines or schedules and can describe social encounters, professional meetings, or casual gatherings. The imperfective aspect contrasts with the perfective counterpart, which marks a single, completed meeting. The perfective form is typically built with a different verb, such as stretnúť, and would be used to indicate a one-off or completed meeting.

Examples: Stretávajú sa každý deň na nádvorí. They meet every day in the courtyard. Stretávajú svojich priateľov na námestí. They meet their friends at the square.

Related forms include other present-tense variants of stretávať, such as stretávam, stretávaš, and, for completed events, the perfective alternatives like stretnúť. The verb belongs to a common pattern in Slovak where the imperfective form conveys repetition or ongoing action, while the perfective form signals a single occurrence with a defined outcome.