tapaavat

Tapaavat is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Finnish verb tavata, which means to meet or to encounter. It is used when referring to a group of people who meet, either planned or incidental. The base verb tavata is common in everyday Finnish and appears in many basic expressions about social or professional meetings.

Usage and nuances: Tavata describes a meeting between people or encounters with things, places, or ideas. It can refer to arranging to meet someone (for example, a social or work meeting) or to meeting someone by chance. In addition to physical meetings, tavata can be used metaphorically to encounter ideas or experiences. The related noun for the event of meeting is kohtaaminen, while kohdata is a closely related verb focused on encountering, often with a slightly more formal or sudden nuance.

Examples: He tapaavat ystäviään joka viikonloppu. (They meet their friends every weekend.) Emme tapaa heitä tänään. (We are not meeting them today.) The negative form in the plural is ei tapaa in the appropriate clause with ei and the subject, e.g., He eivät tapaa toisiaan. In everyday speech, tense is usually present, with Finnish often implying future meaning through context.

Grammar note: Tavata belongs to the group of Finnish verbs that form the present tense with endings such as -an, -at, -aa, -amme, -atte, -avat. Therefore, the third-person plural present is tapaavat, and a few related forms share the same stem with slight vowel harmony adjustments.

See also: tavata, kohdata, kohtaaminen, Finnish verb conjugation.