Enthielten

Enthielten is the simple past tense form of the German verb enthalten, meaning to contain or to include. It is the third-person plural past tense, used with plural subjects, e.g., Die Listen enthielten mehrere Fehler. For singular subjects the corresponding form is enthielt. The past participle of enthalten is enthalten, and in the present perfect one would typically say Das Buch hat viel enthalten.

Usage and nuance: Enthielten appears mainly in written German, especially in historical writing, reports, summaries, and narrative prose, when describing what a document, list, volume, or collection included. It can denote the contents of a text, a package, or a dataset. In everyday speech, speakers often use the present tense form enthält or substitute with synonyms such as beinhalten or umfassen.

Etymology and related forms: The verb derives from the prefix ent- attached to halten (to hold). Related verbs include enthalten (to contain) and beinhalten (to include). Beinhalten is often used more generally to describe what something includes, while enthalten can carry a stronger sense of concentrated content within something.

See also: enthalten, beinhalten, Präteritum.