taisteli

Taisteli is the third-person singular past tense form of the Finnish verb taistella, meaning "to fight" or "to struggle." It is used to describe a past action performed by a singular subject, for example, Hän taisteli voitosta (He/She fought for the victory). The infinitive form is taistella, and other conjugations in the past tense include taistelin (I fought), taistelit (you fought), taistelimme (we fought), taistelitte (you all fought), and taistelivat (they fought). The imperative form is taistele, meaning "fight!"

In Finnish, taistella belongs to the verb class that forms its past tense with the -i- suffix in the third-person singular. The past participle is taisteltu, used in passive or perfect constructions such as Taistelu on taisteltu yhdessä tiimin kanssa, “The battle has been fought with team effort.” Related nominal forms include taistelu (battle, combat) and taistelija (fighter, combatant). The concept can be extended metaphorically to struggles beyond physical combat, e.g., taistelu oikeudenmukaisuuden puolesta (the fight for justice).

Taisteli is common in historical narratives, news reporting, literature, and everyday language when describing past acts of fighting or struggling. Its usage emphasizes completed actions in the past and can be contrasted with taistella (to fight) in its infinitive form and taisteltaessa (while fighting) in dependent clauses.