varjutavad

Varjutavad is the Estonian present tense, third-person plural form of the verb varjutama, which means to eclipse, to obscure, or to cast a shadow over. The word describes an action where one object blocks or reduces the light from another. It can be used in both literal astronomical contexts and in metaphorical or figurative language.

In astronomy, varjutama refers to solar or lunar eclipses, where one celestial body partially or fully covers another. The subject is the eclipsing body and the object is what is being obscured. A common example is: Kuu varjutab Päikese. Another everyday usage describes objects such as clouds obscuring light: Pilved varjutavad päikest (the clouds obscure the Sun).

In figurative use, varjutama can describe situations where attention, importance, or significance is overshadowed by other factors. For instance, a major scandal can varjutada a smaller news item, meaning it overshadows it in public attention. The term is part of a broader family around eclipse-related concepts, including varjutus (the eclipse).

Grammatically, varjutama is a transitive verb, and its objects are typically in the partitive or genitive case, depending on the focus and sentence structure. Varjutavad, as the present tense plural form, aligns with plural subjects such as inimesed (people), tähtsad sündmused (important events), või taevakehad (astronomical bodies).

See also: varjutamine, varjutus, varju.