bestemte

Bestemte is the simple past tense form of the verb bestemme in Danish and Norwegian, meaning "decided" or "determined." It is used to describe a decision or determination that occurred in the past. In both Danish and Norwegian, the simple past form is the same for all subjects, so forms like jeg bestemte, du bestemte, han bestemte, vi bestemte, dere bestemte, de bestemte are all used without subject-verb agreement changes.

In practice, bestemte is commonly found with a reflexive pronoun in Norwegian to indicate settling on an action, as in "Vi bestemte oss for å dra" (We decided to go). In Danish, the reflexive construction is similar: "Vi bestemte os for at gå." The meaning ranges from deciding on a plan to selecting a particular course of action in the past.

Bestemte has a closely related form, bestemmt, the past participle used with have to form perfect tenses, as in "har bestemt" (has decided) or "har bestemt seg" (has decided for oneself). This participle contrasts with bestemte, which is confined to the simple past tense.

The word appears across standard varieties of Danish and Norwegian and is common in written and spoken language. While bestemme is the present-tense root, bestemte functions specifically as the past tense form in everyday usage. Etymologically, the verb originates from Germanic roots related to deciding and fixing a course of action, a sense preserved in modern usage.

See also: bestemme, verb conjugation, past tense, Norwegian grammar, Danish grammar.