katsoivat

Katsoivat is the third-person plural imperfect (imperfekti) indicative form of the Finnish verb katsoa, meaning “to look” or “to watch.” The infinitive is katsoa. In Finnish, verbs are conjugated for tense and person, and katsoivat specifically marks a past action performed by multiple subjects. The corresponding singular past form is katsoi.

Formation and usage: The imperfect is created by attaching a past-tense suffix to the verb stem. For katsoa, the stem is katso-, and the third-person plural past ending is -ivat, yielding katsoivat. This form is commonly used in narrative or descriptive past contexts to indicate that several people looked or watched at something in the past.

Examples: Lapset katsoivat televisiota koko illan. They watched television all evening. He katsoivat elokuvaa. They watched a movie. The object of katsoa can appear in different cases depending on definiteness and aspect; for example, katsoivat elokuvaa (partitive) or katsoivat elokuvan (accusative) are both possible in appropriate contexts.

Related considerations: Katsoivat appears in contrast to the singular form katsoi, which would be used when the subject is one person or thing. The verb katsoa covers meanings from “to look” to “to watch,” and katsoivat remains neutral in tone, suitable for descriptive or encyclopedic writing. Finnish verb conjugation relies on stem changes and suffixes, with -ivat being a typical ending for 3rd-person plural imperfect forms in many verb groups.