tutkivat

Tutkivat is a Finnish verb form meaning they investigate. It is the present tense, third-person plural form of the verb tutkia, which means to investigate, examine, or study something thoroughly. The infinitive is tutkia. The form tutkivat is used when the subject is plural, as in he tutkivat ilmiötä (they investigate the phenomenon). In everyday and formal language, tutkivat appears in scientific, journalistic, legal, and investigative contexts.

Grammatically, tutkivat shows active voice and present tense. In Finnish, the third-person plural present ending is typically -vat or -vät, depending on vowel harmony, so tutkia’s stem combines with -vat to yield tutkivat. Related verb forms include tutkivat for they investigate, tutkimme for we investigate, and tutkitaan for a passive or impersonal “is investigated” construction.

Common derivatives and related terms are tutkija (researcher), tutkimus (research or study), and tutkiminen (investigation or examining). The term can pair with a wide range of objects, for example tutkivat ilmiön vaikutuksia (they investigate the effects of the phenomenon) or tutkivat tapahtuman taustoja (they examine the background of the event).

Usage notes: tutkivat expresses deliberate, ongoing or completed investigation by multiple subjects. It should be distinguished from the passive form tutkitaan, which describes something being investigated rather than who is conducting the investigation. The form is widely used across academic, media, and professional discourse in Finnish.