tunnistimme

Tunnistimme is a Finnish verb form meaning we identified or we recognized. It is the first-person plural past tense of the verb tunnistaa, which covers both “to identify” and “to recognize” a person or thing. This form is used when the speaker and others completed the act of determining or confirming the identity of someone or something in the past.

In Finnish, the infinitive is tunnistaa, and the present tense forms include tunnistan, tunnistat, tunnistaa, tunnistamme, tunnistatte, tunnistavat. The past tense forms follow the same person-number pattern, for example tunnistin (I identified), tunnistit (you identified), tunnisti (he/she identified), and tunnistimme (we identified). Finnish past tense verbs do not change for gender, only for person and number.

Usage notes: tunnistimme is commonly used in contexts such as recognizing a person in a crowd, identifying someone from a photograph, or establishing identity in investigations or security procedures. It often pairs with objects in the accusative: Hänet (him/her) or sen (it) as appropriate. Example sentences include: Me tunnistimme hänet kadulla. We identified him in the street. Me tunnistimme hänet valokuvasta. We recognized him from the photograph.

Etymology and related terms: tunnistaa derives from the noun tunnus, meaning “sign” or “identifier,” with the verb-forming suffix -istaa. Related nouns include tunnistus (identification) and tunnistaminen (the act of identifying).