Schützten

Schützten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb schützen, meaning to protect or guard. It is used with plural subjects (wir, sie) in narrative or formal writing to describe past protection or guarding actions. For example: Wir schützten den Zeugen vor weiteren Angriffen.

Conjugation and form

In Präteritum, the typical forms are: ich schützte, du schütztest, er/sie/es schützte, wir schützten, ihr schütetet, sie schützten. The verb is regular in its past-tense endings, with the stem vowel occasionally appearing as a result of the umlaut in the present tense.

Usage

Schützten commonly appears in written prose or historical accounts to convey actions completed in the past. In everyday spoken German, speakers more often use the present perfect (Perfekt) with schützen, e.g., "Wir haben geschützt," especially in contemporary contexts. Präteritum remains standard in newspapers, literature, and formal narration when referring to past protection or defense.

Related forms and notes

The noun Schützen, capitalized, refers to the plural form of Schütze (shooter or marksman) or to a rifle club in compound names such as Schützenverein. The past tense form schützten is never used as a noun. The verb schützen itself is used across contexts such as guarding, safeguarding, and defending people, places, or things.

See also

Schützen (noun), Schutz, schützen (infinitive).