benannten

Benannten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb benennen, which means to name, designate, or christen. It is used with plural subjects, for example: wir benannten, sie benannten. The corresponding singular past forms are ich benannte, du benanntest, er benannte. An example sentence: Die Forscher benannten die Insel nach ihrem Entdecker.

In addition to its past tense use, benennen appears with the past participle benannt to form the perfect: sie haben benannt. This is common in spoken German, where the Perfekt is often preferred over Präteritum for completed actions in the past. Example: Die Gruppe hat die Kandidaten nach ihren Fähigkeiten benannt.

Benennung and related forms are also part of the word family. The abstract noun Benennung (the act of naming or designation) is more common than a noun form of the participle. The capitalized phrase Die Benannten can appear in rare or specialized contexts to refer to “the named ones,” but it is not standard everyday usage and depends on context.

Etymologically, benennen derives from the separable-prefix verb be- plus nenn- (from nennen, to name). The prefix be- adds a sense of designation or designation toward something, and the word is widely used in contexts such as naming persons, places, roles, or designations.