Tapaa

Tapaa is a Finnish verb form derived from tavata, meaning to meet or to encounter. It is the third-person singular present indicative form, used with a subject such as hän (he or she). For the first-person singular present, the form is tapaan.

In the present tense, the full conjugation of tavata is: minä tapaan, sinä tapaat, hän tapaa, me tapaamme, te tapaatte, he tapaavat. The form tapaa appears in sentences describing someone meeting another person or encountering something, as in Hän tapaa ystävänsä after work. The verb also appears in other tenses and moods, with the past tense forms such as tapasi (he/she met) and tapasimme (we met).

Usage of tapaa covers both meeting people and encountering events or things. It is common in everyday Finnish to express social meetings, introductions, or chance encounters. Finnish often relies on context rather than auxiliary words to convey tense, so time frames are typically set by adverbs or surrounding verbs.

Related words include the infinitive tavata (to meet) and the noun tapaaminen (a meeting or encounter). The noun tapa, meaning a way or custom, is etymologically related but has a distinct meaning. Tapaa can be contrasted with other related verbs such as kohdata (to encounter) in nuanced uses of meeting or encountering.

See also: tavata, tapaaminen, kohtaaminen.