entkamst

Entkamst is the second-person singular simple past tense form of the German verb entkommen, meaning “you escaped.” It is used in narrative or reported speech to describe a past action in which the subject you escape from something. The infinitive entkommen combines the prefix ent- with kommen, and the prefix is inseparable in usage.

Conjugation and forms: entkommen follows the strong verb pattern in the Präteritum. The principal forms are ich entkam, du entkamst, er entkam, wir entkamen, ihr entkamst, sie entkamen. The corresponding past participle is entkommen, used with auxiliary sein in the perfect tense (ich bin entkommen, du bist entkommen, etc.). The 2nd-person singular form entkamst is specific to the past tense and not used in the present tense, where the form is entkommst.

Usage notes: Entkamst is more common in literature, historical accounts, or formal writing. In everyday spoken German, speakers typically use the present tense du entkommst or the perfect du bist entkommen to convey escape. Entkommen generally takes a prepositional expression to indicate what is escaped from, such as aus dem Gefängnis entkommen (to escape from prison).

Example sentence: Du entkamst dem Verfolger, bevor die Tür zuschlug. This illustrates the use of entkamst to describe a past escape addressed to or involving the listener.

See also: entkommen, Präteritum, German verb conjugation, prefixes ent-.