oppivat

Oppivat is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Finnish verb oppia, meaning to learn. It translates to “they learn” or “they are learning” in English. In Finnish, the present tense covers both ongoing actions and general statements, and there is no separate present continuous form.

Usage: Oppivat is used for a plural subject. It can take a direct object in the partitive case when specifying what is learned, for example, He oppivat ohjelmointia (They are learning programming) or He oppivat matematiikkaa. It can also introduce a subordinate clause, as in He oppivat, miten se tehdään. The corresponding singular forms are oppii (he/she learns) and opin (I learn).

Morphology: The form is built from the verb oppia with the 3rd person plural present ending -vat, giving oppivat. The infinitive oppia is the base form. The present active participle is oppiva, used adjectivally to describe someone who is learning (for example, oppiva opiskelija), while the standard noun for a learner is oppija, with plural oppijat.

Etymology and nuance: Oppia comes from Finnish root opp-, related to learning or education. Oppivat emphasizes an ongoing action by multiple subjects; context determines whether the sense is habitual or in-progress.

See also: oppija, oppiva, oppiaine, opetus.