sledovali

Sledovali is the past tense form of the Czech verb sledovat. It is the third-person plural masculine form, used to say that “they watched” or “they monitored” in the past. Sledovat is an imperfective verb, so the form sledovali conveys a past action that could have been ongoing, repeated, or not limited to a single moment.

Etymology and cognates: The verb derives from the root sled- meaning “track” or “trace” and is related to other Slavic verbs meaning to follow or watch. Cognates include Russian sledút’ (следить), Polish śledzić, and Slovene slediti. The verb forms in Czech show agreement with gender and number, with variations such as sledovala (she watched) and sledovali (they watched).

Usage: Sledovali is used with masculine personal or mixed-gender groups. It can denote literal watching of media, following events, or monitoring someone or something. Examples include: Sledovali pořad v televizi. (They watched a program on TV.) Policisté sledovali podezřelého. (The police monitored the suspect.) The meaning can range from passive watching to active surveillance, depending on context.

Related forms: The verb sledovat has related past forms for different subjects, such as sledovala (she watched) and sledovalo (it watched). The distinction between imperfective forms and other aspects influences nuance, but sledovali specifically marks a past action by a masculine plural subject.