Untersuchte

Untersuchte is a verb form in German. It is the simple past (Präteritum) of the verb untersuchen, meaning to examine or investigate. The form untersuchte is used for ich untersuchte (I examined) and er/sie/es untersuchte (he/she/it examined); in context the subject is determined by other elements of the sentence.

In contrast to the past participle used with haben to form the present perfect (hat untersucht), untersuchte functions as a finite verb in the simple past and stands on its own in narrative or formal writing. It is not a noun or a fixed name; its meaning derives from the verb and the sentence’s subject.

Grammar notes: untersuchen is a weak verb. The simple past forms are: ich untersuchte, du untersuchtest, er/sie/es untersuchte, wir untersuchten, ihr untersuchtet, sie untersuchten. The form untersuchte therefore appears whenever the speaker refers to a past act of examining, whether in a report, a historical account, or a fictional narrative. The corresponding past participle is untersucht.

Usage: untersuchte is common in historical, scientific, and journalistic texts, where actions are described as completed in the past. It can describe investigations, examinations, or analyses that no longer continue in the present.

See also: untersuchen, untersuchung, investigation-related terminology in German, past tense conjugation patterns in German verbs.