Nannten

Nannten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the German verb nennen, meaning to name or to call. It is used with plural subjects, producing forms such as wir nannten, ihr nanntet, sie nannten, and Sie nannten. The corresponding singular past forms are ich nannte, du nanntest, and er/sie/es nannte.

In standard German, Präteritum is common in written language and in narrative or historical contexts. In everyday spoken German, speakers often prefer the Perfekt tense, formed with haben genannt, to describe past naming actions. This reflects a broader difference between formal writing and casual speech.

Usage and examples illustrate how nannten functions. Wir nannten ihn Max. (We named him Max.) Die Forscher nannten das Phänomen einen Zufall. (The researchers named the phenomenon a coincidence.) Sie nannten die Stadt am Fluss ein neues Tor zur Handelsroute. (They named the city by the river a new gateway to trade.) These sentences show nannten taking a direct object that is the thing named and an object or description that is the name given.

Etymologically, nennen traces to Germanic roots meaning to name or designate, with Präteritum forms evolving over time into the modern nannten for plural subjects. As a grammatical form, nannten is a finite Verb form used to report past naming actions and is not a separate lexical item beyond the verb nennen itself.