poczekali

Poczekali is a Polish verb form, specifically the third-person plural past tense of the perfective verb poczekać, meaning they waited or they have waited. It is used to describe a completed act of waiting by a group of people.

Grammatical notes: In Polish, past tense forms agree with the subject in gender and number. Poczekali is masculine personal or mixed-gender plural. The feminine plural form is poczekały. The verb poczekać, as a perfective form, conveys a completed action, in contrast to the imperfective czekać, which denotes ongoing or habitual waiting.

Etymology and nuance: The prefix po- attached to czekać creates the aspect of a brief, completed wait. Poczekać often implies waiting for something specific to occur or for a short period, rather than an extended duration.

Usage examples:

- Oni poczekali na autobus. (They waited for the bus.)

- Poczekali kilka minut, a potem zaczęli rozmawiać. (They waited a few minutes, and then started talking.)

See also: The related verbs czekać (to wait, imperfective) and poczekać (to wait for a short time, perfective), as well as general Polish verb conjugation and aspect.