Dirigierte

Dirigierte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb dirigieren. The verb means to conduct, direct, or oversee. In everyday use, dirigierte describes a past action of directing something, most commonly in musical contexts where a conductor leads an ensemble, but it can also refer to directing a project or operation. The past tense form corresponds to “conducted” in English.

Etymology and usage

Dirigieren derives from the Latin dirigere and the French diriger, both meaning to direct or guide. In German, the verb is widely used for conducting music as well as for directing activities, plans, or processes. The related noun is Der Dirigent, referring to a conductor.

Grammatical notes

Dirigierte is the Präteritum form for all persons in the singular and plural: ich dirigierte, du dirigiertest, er dirigierte, wir dirigierten, ihr dirigiertet, sie dirigierten. The present tense is ich dirigiere, du dirigierst, er dirigiert, wir dirigieren, ihr dirigiert, sie dirigieren. The past participle is dirigiert, used with haben to form perfect tenses: ich habe dirigiert, er hat dirigiert. Dirigieren belongs to the -ieren verbs, whose preterite forms are regular and whose participle ends in -iert.

See also

Dirigent, Dirigieren, German verbs of directing or conducting.