Drukten

Drukten is the past tense form of the Dutch verb drukken, which covers meanings such as to press, to apply pressure, or to print. In standard use, the simple past tense of drukken is drukte for the singular subject (ik drukte, jij drukte, hij/zij drukte) and drukten for the plural subjects (wij drukten, jullie drukten, zij drukten). The past participle is gedrukt, used with have or had in compound tenses.

In everyday language, drukken can refer to physical actions (pressing a button, squeezing an object) as well as to producing written material (to print a document, to publish a piece). Because of this breadth, the context often clarifies whether the sense is mechanical, editorial, or figurative (for example, pressing a claim or applying pressure). Common collocations include op de knop drukken (to press the button) and drukwerk of publieksdruk (print runs or editions in publishing). The verb is regular in its imperfect forms, with tense use shaped by the subject and the aspect of the action described.

Phonology and morphology are typical of Dutch strong regular verbs in the imperfect tense, though druk- is a common stem in various related forms such as drukken (to press), gedrukt (pressed), and drukte/drukten in past contexts. The word is part of everyday vocabulary in both technical and literary Dutch, appearing in instructions, news reporting, and publishing contexts. There are no distinct dialectal forms for drukten that alter its basic past-tense function in standard Dutch.