merkitsivät

Merkitsivät is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Finnish verb merkitä, meaning they marked, signified, or indicated. It is used to describe a past action of marking or signaling carried out by multiple subjects. The base verb merkitä is related to merkki, meaning sign or mark, and denotes actions such as labeling, designating, or conveying meaning.

In Finnish morphology, merkitsivät is formed from the stem merkit- with the standard past tense ending for third-person plural. The form reflects how past actions by several agents are expressed in narrative and descriptive text. The word can be used in a wide range of contexts, from literal markings on objects or documents to more figurative indications of meaning or significance.

Usage notes: merkitsivät commonly appears in historical writing, journalism, academic texts, and literary prose when recounting events or descriptions where multiple actors performed marking or signaling. The verb family around merkitsivät, including merkki (sign), merkintä (marking), and merkitä (to mark), covers both concrete labeling tasks and broader semantical designation.

See also: merkki, merkintä, merkitä, Finnish verbs, Finnish past tense.