Habitual Actions with "tavata"
You might already know the verb tavata as "to meet." When used as an auxiliary verb, it means "to tend to" or "usually do," expressing a habitual action.
| to tend to / usually do (habitually) | tavata |
To express a habit, conjugate tavata and follow it with the first infinitive (the dictionary form) of the main verb.
| The writer tends to wander in the park. | Kirjailija tapaa vaellella puistossa. |
| Eccentric artists tend to work at night. | Omalaatuiset taiteilijat tapaavat työskennellä yöllä. |
Past Habits and Questions
Like other auxiliary verbs, tavata can be framed as a question or put into the past tense to describe what someone "used to" do.
| Do you usually ponder in the studio? | Tapaatko sinä mietiskellä ateljeessa? |
| He used to smoke a pipe and ponder. | Hän tapasi polttaa piippua ja mietiskellä. |
Adding Context with "kun"
You can link clauses with kun (when) to explain the circumstances of a habit.
| The eccentric artist tends to observe people. | Omalaatuinen taiteilija tapaa havainnoida ihmisiä. |
| He tends to wander in the forest when he seeks inspiration. | Hän tapaa vaellella metsässä, kun hän etsii inspiraatiota. |
Ease, Difficulty, and Resources
To say someone finds an action easy or hard, use a genitive subject (e.g., taiteilijan) + on helppo (is easy) or on vaikea (is hard) + the first infinitive.
| The artist finds it easy to observe people. | Taiteilijan on helppo havainnoida ihmisiä. |
| The writer finds it hard to express creativity. | Kirjailijan on vaikea ilmaista luovuutta. |
To express having the time (aikaa) or money (varaa) to do something, use an adessive subject (-lla/-llä) + olla + the resource + the first infinitive.
| Does the artist have the money to buy an old typewriter? | Onko taiteilijalla varaa ostaa vanha kirjoituskone? |
| We do not have the time to look for a new studio. | Meillä ei ole aikaa etsiä uutta ateljeeta. |