Prallten

Prallten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb prallen. Prallen means to collide, strike, or rebound, and prallten specifically marks past tense for plural subjects in narrative or written German. The corresponding singular past forms are ich prallte, du pralltest, er prallte, sie prallte. The present tense forms are ich pralle, du prallst, er prallt, wir prallen, ihr prallt, sie prallen.

In usage, prallten appears in contexts describing past actions where multiple subjects perform the action or experience the impact. For example: Die Wellen prallten gegen die Küste. Wir prallten gegen die Wand, als wir aus dem Weg gingen. The verb can describe physical impacts as well as figurative rebounds or clashes in a narrative.

The standard spoken variant for past action is often the Perfekt with geprallt: Die Wellen sind gegen die Küste geprallt. In writing, however, the Präteritum form prallten is common for past narration, especially in news reports or literary prose. The root form prall- is combined with standard German past-tense endings, making prallten a regular Präteritum form for plural subjects.