erzählte

Erzählte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb erzählen, meaning to tell or narrate. It is a finite verb form used to describe past events or statements in narrative or written text. The form erzählte can appear as either the first-person singular past tense (ich erzählte) or the third-person singular past tense (er/sie/es erzählte), with the subject disambiguated by context.

Morphology and usage. In full conjugation, the Präteritum of erzählen is: ich erzählte, du erzähltest, er erzählte, wir erzählten, ihr erzähltet, sie/Sie erzählten. The form erzählte therefore serves two grammatical persons depending on the sentence. It is common in reported or fictional narration and tends to appear in written German, especially in novels, reports, and formal prose.

Register and contrast with other tenses. In everyday spoken German, the perfect tense (Perfekt) is more frequently used for past events, for example: Ich habe dir erzählt. The Präteritum, including erzählte, is characteristic of standard narrative style and is especially prominent in literary contexts. Time expressions such as gestern, vor einer Stunde, or früher help anchor erzählte in the past.

Related forms and terms. The verb is derived from erzählen, and related nouns include Erzählung (narrative or story) and Erzähler (narrator). The form erzählte thus functions both as a past-tense verb and as a marker of past narration within larger sentences.

In sum, erzählte is the Präteritum past tense form of erzählen used primarily in written or narrative German to recount past telling or storytelling, with usage patterns distinct from the more common spoken Perfekt.