fügte

fügte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb fügen, meaning to join, attach, or add. It is used in written language and in narrative contexts where the Präteritum is common. The full Präteritum conjugation is: ich fügte, du fügtest, er/sie/es fügte, wir fügten, ihr fügtet, sie fügten. The form fügte appears in the ich and er/sie/es forms, while the plural forms use fügten (wir, sie) and the second-person forms are fügtest (du) and fügtet (ihr).

Usage and meaning: fügen covers actions of bringing pieces together or adding something to something else. Examples include "Er fügte dem Bericht eine Tabelle hinzu" (He added a table to the report) or "Sie fügte eine Klausel dem Vertrag hinzu." In modern spoken German, the Perfekt (haben + hinzugefügt oder beigefügt) is more common for past events.

Relation to other forms: fügen is often replaced in everyday language by synonyms such as hinzufügen or beifügen, especially in spoken registers. The past tense of those verbs is typically expressed with the respective perfect forms in speech, for example "hinzugefügt" or "beigefügt." The simple past fuselage of fügen thus remains more characteristic of formal writing, historical texts, or certain journalistic styles.

Etymology and cognates: fügen is a Germanic verb with cognates in other West Germanic languages, such as Dutch voegen (to add or join). The term reflects the long-standing concept of bringing parts together, a notion echoed across related languages.