karistasid

Karistasid is an Estonian verb form, the past tense form of karistama (to punish) used with a plural subject. It corresponds to “they punished” in English and is employed when describing actions carried out by multiple actors in the past. In Estonian, verbs do not inflect for gender, so karistasid is used regardless of the gender of the subject.

Usage notes emphasize that karistasid appears in narrative, historical, or reported contexts where the punishment by a group is being described. The subject is often explicit (nad, meaning they), but it can also be understood from the verb form and the surrounding sentence. The object of the punishment typically follows the verb, for example: Nad karistasid kedagi või Nad karistasid kurjategijaid.

Examples:

Nad karistasid kedagi. They punished someone.

Nad karistasid kurjategijaid. They punished the criminals.

Karistasid is one of the finite past-tense forms of karistama and forms part of the standard set of Estonian past-tense conjugations. It is used specifically for plural subjects and distinguishes past actions from present or future contexts.