armastavad

Armastavad is an Estonian verb form meaning "they love." It is the third-person plural present tense of the verb armastama, which means to love. The form appears in sentences describing a present, ongoing sentiment or action by a plural subject.

Etymology and morphology: The verb stem is armasta-, and the present tense endings yield the six standard forms: armastan, armastad, armastab, armastame, armastate, armastavad. The form armastavad specifically corresponds to subjects like nad (they) or other plural nouns/pronouns in the present tense. In ordinary use the subject is often omitted when clear from context.

Usage and examples: Armastavad is used for statements about multiple subjects loving something or someone. Examples include Nad armastavad muusikat (They love music), Me armastame loodust (We love nature), and Nad armastavad sind (They love you). Because Estonian frequently omits the subject pronoun, armastavad can appear without an explicit subject when the context already indicates a plural subject.

Related forms and notes: Armastama is the base verb, from which armastav and other forms are derived. Armastus is a noun meaning love. Armastavad is a regular present-tense form and is common across informal and formal registers in everyday Estonian language.