arbeiteten

Arbeiteten is the Präteritum (simple past) form of arbeiten in German. It is used with plural subjects such as wir, sie, and Sie, and translates to “worked” for those subjects in English. The form appears mainly in written language and formal narration.

Form and conjugation: arbeiten is a regular (weak) verb. In the Präteritum the stem arbeit- takes the endings -ten for wir, sie, and Sie. The full paradigm is: ich arbeitete; du arbeitetest; er/sie/es arbeitete; wir arbeiteten; ihr arbeitetet; sie/Sie arbeiteten.

Usage: The Präteritum is standard in literary writing, journalism, and historical or official narration. In everyday spoken German, the Perfekt (haben + gearbeitet) is more common for past actions. Regional variation exists, but the distinction between Präteritum and Perfekt is a general feature of the language.

Beispiele: Wir arbeiteten den ganzen Tag an dem Bericht. Die Arbeiter arbeiteten an der Maschine. Diese Form is primarily found in written or formal contexts, while in casual speech you would more often hear something like Wir haben den ganzen Tag gearbeitet.