Tarjoilkaa

Tarjoilkaa is a Finnish word that functions as the second-person plural imperative of the verb tarjoilla, meaning to serve or to offer in a hospitality or service context. It is used when addressing multiple people, such as a team of waitstaff or servers, to instruct them to begin serving or to offer items to customers. Examples include: Tarjoilkaa ruoat pöytään and Tarjoilkaa kahvia asiakkaalle.

Grammatically, tarjoilla forms the imperative with the root tarjoil- plus the plural imperative suffix -kaa, following regular Finnish conjugation patterns for second-person plural. The corresponding singular imperative is tarjoile. Related forms include tarjoilu (service, serving) and tarjoilija (waiter, server).

Usage notes emphasize its practical, operational tone. Tarjoilkaa is common in restaurant, event, or institutional settings where staff are given direct commands. In casual speech, speakers might use less formal phrasing, but in workplace contexts tarjotaan commands often take this exact form. The tone of tar­joilkaa—whether seen as polite, formal, or directive—depends on context, intonation, and relationship among speakers.

See also: tarjoa- verbs and nouns such as tarjota (to offer), tarjoilu (service), and tarjoilija (waiter). These related terms help contextualize tar­joilkaa within the broader Finnish lexicon of serving and hospitality.