katsoitte

Katsoitte is the second-person plural imperfect form of the Finnish verb katsoa, meaning "you (all) watched" or "you watched." It describes a completed action in the past and is used in both spoken and written Finnish when referring to a group as the subject. The form is common in narratives and dialogue, where a researcher or storyteller recounts past events involving multiple people.

Formation and grammar: Katsoitte is built from the verb stem katso- with the past tense suffix -itte, which marks the second-person plural subject in the imperfect tense. The corresponding present tense form is katsotte (you watch). Finnish past tense forms vary by verb type and can show changes in the stem, but katsoitte follows the standard pattern for the second-person plural past of katsoa.

Usage and examples: Katsoitte is used to describe what a group watched in the past. Examples include: Eilen te katsoitte elokuvan. (Yesterday you watched a movie.) Kun te katsoitte televisiota myöhään, lähditte sitten nukkumaan. (When you watched television late, you then went to sleep.) In contrast, to express past actions with a lasting relevance, Finns often use the present perfect, formed with olla and the past participle, as in Olette katsoneet elokuvan. (You have watched the movie.)

Relation to other forms: Katsoitte is contrasted with the singular past form katsoit (you watched, singular) and with the present te katsotte or te katsotte- form, which express present actions. The verb katsoa belongs to Finnish verb systems that frequently use suffixal conjugations to indicate person and tense.

See also: katsoa, watching in Finnish, Finnish past tenses, Finnish grammar.