gehörten

Gehören is a German verb meaning to belong or to be part of. The word “gehörten” is its Präteritum (simple past) form for plural subjects, used for wir (we), sie (they), and Sie (formal you) in past-tense statements. It is a stative verb that expresses possession or membership rather than an action.

In its full Präteritum paradigm, forms include: ich gehörte, du gehörtest, er gehörte, wir gehörten, ihr gehörtet, sie gehörten. The past participle is gehört, and the present perfect form is hat gehört. In everyday spoken German, speakers often use the Perfekt (hat gehört) instead of Präteritum, especially in informal contexts, for past events: Es hat mir gehört, or Es gehörte mir in der Vergangenheit.

Usage notes: Gehören typically takes a dative possessor, as in Die Bücher gehören ihm (The books belong to him). It can also appear with zu to express a broader association or membership, as in Das gehört zu den Aufgaben (That belongs to the tasks / That is part of the duties). The simple past form gehörten can be used in narrative contexts to describe what belonged to someone or what was part of a group in the past.

Etymology: Gehören derives from the Germanic family of verbs with the ge- prefix and is related to the notion of belonging or being connected to someone or something. It is commonly taught as a foundational verb for expressing ownership, membership, and part-to-whole relationships in German.

Related terms include gehören zu, belonging, Teil (part), and Besitz (possession).