fehlten

Fehlten is the Präteritum (simple past) form of the German verb fehlen, which means “to be missing” or “to be absent,” and is used to express that something was lacking or not present in the past. In German, fehlen is intransitive and usually involves a dative experiencer (the person affected) with the thing that is missing treated as the subject of the clause.

Usage and examples

- Mir fehlten zwei Tage Urlaub. (I was missing two days of vacation / I lacked two days of vacation.)

- Es fehlten dem Team drei Spieler. (The team was missing three players.)

- In der Liste fehlten drei Namen. (Three names were missing from the list.)

These constructions show the typical structure: the thing missing is the subject, while the person who experiences the lack is in the dative case.

Conjugation and related forms

- Present: ich fehle, du fehlst, er fehlt, wir fehlen, ihr fehlt, sie fehlen.

- Präteritum: ich fehlte, du fehltest, er fehlte, wir fehlten, ihr fehltet, sie fehlten.

- Partizip II: gefehlt.

- Perfekt (with the dative experiencer): Mir hat etwas gefehlt. / Mir haben zwei Dinge gefehlt.

The form fehlten (as shown in the title) is specifically the third-person plural or the corresponding singular forms in the past tense, depending on the subject.

Translations and nuance

Fehlen translates to “to be missing” or “to lack.” It contrasts with verbs like fehlen in its focus on absence rather than action. It is common in everyday language, journalism, and literary texts to describe shortages, absences, or gaps in time, resources, or information.

See also: fehlen (verb), Fehlen (noun)