bývají

bývajú is the third-person plural present tense form of the Slovak verb bývať, meaning to live or to reside, with an imperfective aspect. The form expresses habitual or repeated action rather than a single, completed event, and it is used to describe where people typically live or what they are accustomed to do.

The verb bývať belongs to the imperfective paradigm in Slovak. Its present tense forms indicate ongoing or repeated activity without focusing on a specific moment. The base form bývať is complemented by various personal endings: ja bývam, ty bývaš, on býva, my bývame, vy bývate, oni bývajú. The specific form bývajú is used when the subject is plural and explicit or contextually understood to be “they.”

Usage and nuances: bývajú is commonly used for statements about habitual residence or typical living arrangements, such as a description of a group’s usual place of residence or a general pattern in behavior. It can appear in sentences like Oni bývajú v Bratislave (They live in Bratislava, as a usual arrangement) or Rodina býva na vidieku (The family usually lives in the countryside). The verb can be negated with ne-: Nebývajú tu často (They do not usually live here often).

Relation to other forms: for non-habitual events or a single occurrence, Slovak would use a different aspect or tense, such as the perfective past with bývať in past contexts or alternative verbs. Past habitual meaning is typically rendered with býval, bývali, rather than bývajú.

See also: bývať, to live; býva and habitual aspect in Slovak; Slovak verb aspects and conjugation.