Durfte

Durfte is the Präteritum (simple past) form of the German verb dürfen, meaning to be allowed to or may. It is a modal auxiliary used to express permission in the past. As a finite verb, durften appears in narrative or formal writing to indicate that someone had permission at a specific time.

Conjugation in the Präteritum is: ich durfte, du durftest, er durfte, wir durften, ihr durftet, sie durften. In everyday speech, speakers often prefer the Perfekt—using the double infinitive with haben—to talk about past permission, for example: Ich habe gehen dürfen or Wir haben das Auto fahren dürfen.

Usage examples include: Gestern durfte er früher gehen. (Yesterday he was allowed to leave earlier.) Wir durften im Urlaub lange spät aufbleiben. (We were allowed to stay up late on holiday.) Er durfte das Auto nicht fahren. (He was not allowed to drive the car.)

Durfte is related to the present tense darf and the subjunctive forms darfst, dürfe, dürften, as well as the Konjunktiv II form dürfte for hypothetical or polite permission. In practice, durften is primarily used for stating that permission existed in the past, while the present and subjunctive forms handle current or hypothetical permission.

Etymologically, dürfen derives from historical Germanic roots related to permission and freedom, with parallel forms in related Germanic languages. In summary, durfte is the past tense of dürfen, signaling that someone had permission at a past time, and it remains a core element of German modal verb usage.