lähtivät

"Lähtivät" is the third-person plural past tense form of the Finnish verb "lähteä". The verb "lähteä" has a primary meaning of "to leave", "to depart", or "to go". Therefore, "lähtivät" translates directly to "they left", "they departed", or "they went". This verb is commonly used in everyday Finnish conversation and writing to describe the action of a group of people or things moving away from a location or starting a journey. For example, one might say "He lähtivät kotoa" which means "They left home". Another common usage is "Bussit lähtivät aikataulun mukaisesti", meaning "The buses left according to the schedule". The word's grammatical function is as a past tense verb indicating a completed action performed by multiple subjects. It can also be used in a more abstract sense, such as "projektit lähtivät käyntiin", meaning "the projects got underway", though in this specific case, "käynnistyivät" might be a more direct translation for "got underway". The core meaning, however, remains one of departure or commencement.