napodobují

Napodobují is the third-person plural present tense form of the Czech verb napodobovat, meaning to imitate, copy, or mimic. It is used to describe actions where subjects reproduce another person’s behavior, sounds, style, or appearance, whether intentionally or as a natural resemblance. The form fits into everyday and literary contexts, from social interactions to descriptions of animal mimicry.

Etymology and word formation: napodobovat is imperfective and built from the root podob- (related to podoba, form or likeness) with the prefix na-, yielding a sense of “to imitate” or “to mimic.” The present tense forms follow the standard Czech pattern for imperfective verbs: já napodobuju, ty napodobuješ, on/ona napodobuje, my napodobujeme, vy napodobujete, oni napodobují. The perfective counterpart is napodobit, used for a completed act of imitation.

Usage notes: Napodobovat is commonly used for people copying others’ actions, speech, or styles, as well as for natural or artificial forms that resemble something else. It can denote playful imitation, critical copying, or evolutionary mimicry in biology. For example: "Oni napodobují chování učitele," meaning they imitate the teacher’s behavior; "Ptáci napodobují zpěv jiných ptáků" refers to birds mimicking others’ songs.

Related terms: napodobit (perfective counterpart), napodobování (the noun for imitation), a synonym set around podobovat and podobný, which relate to resemblance. Nouns such as napodobování and synonyms in Czech are used to discuss the act or process of imitation.