erkundeten

Erkundeten is the simple past tense form of the German verb erkunden, meaning to explore, survey, or reconnoiter in order to gain knowledge. The form is used with plural subjects (sie erkundeten) and also with the formal address Sie erkundeten in the past. Erkunden is a regular verb, so its Präteritum follows the standard pattern: ich erkundete, du erkundetest, er erkundete, wir erkundeten, ihr erkundetet, sie erkundeten, Sie erkundeten. The past participle is erkundet, and the perfect tense is formed with haben erkundet.

In usage, erkundeten appears mainly in written narratives or historical/h field reports, where a group or entity is described as having carried out exploration or investigation. In everyday spoken German, the Perfekt tense (“haben erkundet”) is more common for describing past actions.

Etymologically, erkunden is formed with the prefix er- added to the base verb kund, which relates to knowing or knowledge. The combined sense is to seek out or investigate something to gain information, often in a systematic or thorough way.

Examples:

- Die Forscher erkundeten das Tal gründlich und fertigten Karten an.

- Die Expedition erkundeten die Küstenlinien und sammelten Proben.

See also:

- erkunden

- Präteritum

- Perfekt (German grammar)