bereute

Bereute is the simple past tense form of the German verb bereuen, meaning to regret or feel remorse for something one has done or failed to do. The form bereute can indicate ich bereute or er/sie/es bereute in the preterite. In everyday speech and writing, the perfect tense with hat bereut (ich habe/bereut) is more common for describing past regrets.

Usage and nuance: Bereuen denotes personal regret about specific actions, words, or decisions, rather than a general feeling about a situation. It often appears in narrative or evaluative contexts. It is commonly contrasted with bedauern, which more neutrally covers regretting a fact or circumstance rather than one’s own action. The noun related to the feeling is Reue; the past participle is bereut, as in er hat bereut.

Examples:

- Ich bereute, wie ich gehandelt hatte.

- Er bereute seine Worte und entschuldigte sich später.

Etymology and cognates: The verb bereuen is of Germanic origin and has cognates in other West Germanic languages, such as Dutch berouwen (to regret) and English rue (to regret). In modern German, bereuen is used across formal and literary contexts, while bedauern is often preferred for general or impersonal regret.