muotoili

Muotoili is the third-person singular past tense form of the Finnish verb muotoilla, meaning to shape, form, or model. The form is used when describing that someone shaped or formulated something in the past. In Finnish, muotoilla covers both physical shaping and abstract formulation, such as ideas, plans, or theories. The word is common in journalism, academic writing, and narrative prose, where actions are recounted in the past tense.

Etymology and grammar: Muotoili expresses past tense for the subject in third person. It corresponds to the English phrase "he/she/it shaped" and is a standard part of Finnish verb conjugation for muotoilla. The stem muotoil- combines with tense and person endings to convey tense, aspect, and agreement.

Usage and nuance: The term is neutral and versatile, suitable for describing concrete acts of shaping, such as crafting a physical object, designing a process, or formulating a plan or theory. In specialized texts, muotoili may appear in reports, formal analyses, and historical narratives to attribute a completed shaping action to a specific subject.

Examples:

- Hän muotoili uuden tutkimusraportin rakenteen. (He formulated the structure of the new research report.)

- Kirjoittaja muotoili tarinan lopun uudelleen. (The writer shaped the ending of the story.)

See also: muotoilla, muotoilu, muotoileva. These related terms cover the infinitive form, the concept of design or styling, and descriptive modifiers related to shaping or forming.