Vääristasid

Vääristasid is an Estonian verb form meaning they distorted or they misrepresented. It is the past tense, third-person plural form of the verb vääristama, which generally means to distort, misrepresent, or falsify. The form is used when the subject of the sentence is plural and the action occurred in the past.

Morphology and usage notes: In Estonian, the past tense for third-person plural is typically marked with the suffix -sid after the verb stem, here resulting in vääristasid from the stem väärista-. The mood is indicative, and the action is completed in the past. The form is common in journalism, legal or academic writing, and everyday speech when attributing distortion of information, data, or truth to a group.

Examples:

- Nad vääristasid tõde. (They distorted the truth.)

- Politseiuuringust selgus, et mõned andmed vääristasid tavaliselt. The second sentence illustrates a typical, though somewhat formal, construction; clarify as needed in context.

Related forms and nouns: The infinitive is vääristama, and related nouns include vääristus (distortion). The root väär- conveys the sense of wrong or false, and the form vääristasid is one of several tense- and person-specific endings used to express past actions by plural subjects.

See also: vääristama, vääristus, deceit-related terms in Estonian.