vaihtavat

Vaihtavat is a Finnish word-form derived from the verb vaihtaa, meaning to exchange, swap, or replace. As a finite verb form, it is the third-person plural present tense of vaihtaa: it means “they exchange” or “they change” depending on the object. Example: He vaihtavat rahaa ennen matkaa. The form expresses a current action and agrees with the subject.

Vaihtava is the present active participle of vaihtaa, and the form related to plural is used in attributive positions before a plural noun, producing phrases such as “vaihtavat osat” meaning “changing parts” or “parts that change,” where the exact nuance depends on the context. The participle functions as an adjective and agrees with its noun in number and case.

In Finnish grammar, the -vat/-vät endings mark both the third-person plural present tense and the present active participle, depending on syntactic position. The core sense of vaihtaa covers exchange, swap, replace, switch, or substitute; compounds with vaihtaa reflect related notions.

Notes: Finnish expresses tense primarily through verb forms rather than a separate future tense; temporal nuance is supplied by context. Related forms include vaihtaminen (the act of exchanging) and vaihto (an exchange or change).