fanden

Fanden is the simple past tense form of the German verb finden, meaning “found” in English. It is used to describe a completed act of finding in past narrative. In modern everyday German, speakers typically prefer the Perfekt (haben gefunden) for past events in speech, but fanden remains common in written language, especially in literary prose, historical writing, or formal reporting where past events are narrated sequentially.

Conjugation in the Präteritum (simple past) is: ich fand, du fandest, er/sie/es fand, wir fanden, ihr fandet, sie/Sie fanden. The form findenen as such is not used; instead, finden’s regular past endings apply. The form fanden is used with the subjects wir and sie/Sie; for ihr the form is fandet, and for du and er/sie/es the forms are fandest and fand, respectively. Examples: Wir fanden den Schlüssel gestern. Sie fanden das frühere Angebot interessant.

Etymology and related forms: finden comes from the Germanic verb found in related languages, with cognates such as English find and Dutch vinden. The past participle is gefunden, and the present tense aligns with other strong German verbs to form the broader verb system of finden. See also finden, gefunden, and the Präteritum paradigm for further reference.