yhdistivät

Yhdistivät is a Finnish verb form meaning they united or they joined. It is the third-person plural past tense (imperfect) of the verb yhdistää, which can mean to unite, to join, or to combine. The form is used to describe actions in the past carried out by multiple subjects and can refer to literal joining (such as merging entities) or more figurative cooperation (such as forming an alliance or pooling resources).

Grammar and form: In Finnish, yhdistää is transitive. The past tense for third-person plural is created by adding the suffix -ivät to the verb stem yhdist-, yielding yhdistivät. For comparison, the third-person singular past is yhdisti (he/she united), and the first-person plural past is yhdistimme (we united). The form agrees with number (plural) and person (third person) and is used in indicative mood and active voice.

Usage: Yhdistivät appears in historical, political, and news writing, as well as narrative prose, to describe multiple subjects joining forces or forming a union. Common collocations include phrases like yhdistivät voimat (joined forces) or yhdistivät toiminnan (joined/merged activities). It can take objects indicating what was united or joined, though many uses are idiomatic.

Examples:

- Kaksi järjestöä yhdistivät voimat. (Two organizations joined forces.)

- Hallitus ja oppositio yhdistivät voimansa kriisin ratkaisemiseksi. (The government and opposition united their efforts to resolve the crisis.)

- Kunnat yhdistivät sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon palvelut. (The municipalities merged social and health care services.)

See also: yhdistää (to unite, to join) and other Finnish verb forms.