tähtäätte

Tähtäätte is a Finnish inflected verb form. It represents the second-person plural present tense of verbs whose semantic core is related to aiming, targeting, or intending. In practice, tähtäätte is used to address more than one person performing the action of aiming or having a certain aim.

Morphology and usage: In Finnish, the second-person plural present tense is formed with the ending -tte, attached to the verb stem. The exact stem may vary between verbs of similar meaning, and vowel harmony or minor stem changes can occur as part of standard conjugation. Because tähtäätte is tied to the stem tähtä- or tähdätä- (depending on the verb), its meaning can be literal—aiming at a target in a shooting or archery sense—or figurative, as in having a goal or objective. The form is purely verbal and cannot function as a noun or adverb in sentences.

Meaning and context: The core sense of the corresponding verbs includes aiming, targeting, and planning with a goal in mind. The context determines whether the sentence refers to physical aiming or to setting intentions or objectives. As with other Finnish verb forms, tähtäätte inflects to agree with subject and tense, and it may appear in conditional or subordinate clauses when combined with appropriate mood forms.

Etymology and related forms: tähtää- or tähdätä- belong to Finnish verb classes that convey aiming or intending. The exact etymology of the verb roots is part of deeper Finnic historical linguistics, but in modern Finnish tähtäätte functions as a standard present-tense plural form of those verbs.

See also: tähtääminen (aiming/targeting), tähdätä (to aim), Finnish verb conjugation.