Löstet

Löstet is a historical German verb form linked to das Verb lösen, meaning to loosen or to solve. It is not used in contemporary standard German, but appears in older texts and in some regional dialects. In Old High German and Early New High German, endings like -et were common for certain past-tense conjugations, and löstet can be found as a past-tense form in some manuscripts, typically associated with the second-person plural subject.

In practice, modern German speakers would use other forms for the same sense. The standard past tense counterparts are lösten for simple past (they loosened or they solved) and habt gelöst for the present perfect (have loosened or have solved), depending on the context. Thus löstet is best understood as an archaism that reflects historical conjugation patterns rather than a current grammatical category.

Löstet also demonstrates how German verbs distinguished person and tense in earlier varieties. The stem bleiben löst- intersects with different endings across dialects and centuries, and the existence of löstet helps illustrate the shift away from -et endings in standard German by the modern period.

Usage and decline: By the 18th century, the -et ending for second-person plural past tenses largely fell out of standard German, persisting mainly in certain dialects and in historical or literary references as an archaism. In contemporary grammar, löstet is typically discussed in linguistic or philological contexts rather than as a productive form.

See also: lösen, German verb conjugation, historical German orthography.