kohtasivat

Kohtasivat is the past tense form of the Finnish verb kohdata, meaning to meet or to encounter. It is used when the subject is plural and indicates that a meeting or encounter occurred in the past. The form can refer to meetings between people, but also to encounters with events, situations, or obstacles. In English, it is typically translated as "they met" or "they encountered."

Grammatical notes about kohdata: the infinitive is kohdata, and the third person plural past tense is kohtasivat. Other past tense forms include minä kohtasin, sinä kohtasit, hän kohtasi, me kohtasimme, te kohtasitte. The verb belongs to a common class of Finnish verbs that form past tense with a consonant-stem change and the plural endings seen in kohtasivat. The form is commonly used in narrative past or factual reporting of meetings.

Usage and related terms: kohtasivat is often used for direct social encounters, for example, He kohtasivat toisensa kaupungilla (They met each other in the city). It can also describe encounters with non-human entities, such as ideas or challenges, in a figurative sense, e.g., kohdata haasteita (to encounter challenges). The related noun is kohtaaminen, meaning an encounter or meeting. A close synonym is tavata, though tavata is more general for any meeting, while kohdata often emphasizes the encounter itself or a more notable event.