erreichten

Erreichten is a finite form of the German verb erreichen, used in the simple past (Präteritum) with plural subjects. It means “they reached” or, depending on the subject, “we reached.” The infinitive is erreichen and the past participle is erreicht. The form erreichten can function as the third-person plural past or as the first-person plural past, with context determining the subject.

Grammatically, the full Präteritum conjugation of erreichen is: ich erreichte, du erreichtest, er/sie/es erreichte, wir erreichten, ihr erreichtet, sie erreichten. The past participle used with haben is erreicht. In spoken German, the Perfekt form (wir haben erreicht) is more common for past events, while the Präteritum erreichten appears more often in literary or formal narration, historical writing, and journalism.

Usage and style: Erreichten is typical in narratives that describe completed actions in the past, such as reaching a goal, a destination, or a milestone. It is suitable for formal or written contexts; in everyday speech, speakers often prefer the Perfekt form. The word can also appear as an attributive past participle in phrases such as die erreichten Ergebnisse, where it describes the noun.

Examples: Sie erreichten den Gipfel nach drei Tagen. Wir erreichten unser Ziel trotz widriger Umstände. Die erreichten Ergebnisse wurden im Bericht zusammengefasst.

See also: erreichen, Erreichung, Erreichbarkeit, erreichten (as attributive participle).

Erreichten is a standard grammatical form in German and does not introduce a separate lexical entry beyond its role as a past-tense form of erreichen.