hoffte

Hoffte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the German verb hoffen, meaning to hope. It is used to describe a past act of hoping or a past state of hopeful anticipation. In standard German, the Perfekt (ich habe gehofft) is more common in everyday speech, while the Präteritum is frequently used in writing and formal narration.

Conjugation in the Präteritum is as follows: ich hoffte, du hofftest, er hoffte, wir hofften, ihr hofftet, sie hofften. The past participle of hoffen is gehofft, and the present participle is hoffend. These forms are used to construct different tenses and aspects in German grammar.

Usage notes include that hoffte often appears in narratives and reports about past events where the action of hoping occurred at a specific time or over a past period. It can express hopes that were realized or unrealized, depending on the surrounding context. Because German speakers frequently favor the Perfekt in conversation, you may encounter the Präteritum form hoffte primarily in written narratives, news reports, or literature.

Etymology traces the verb to the Germanic language family, with cognates in related West Germanic languages. While precise historical details vary, hoffen and its past tense hoffte reflect a long-standing pattern of expressing desire or expectation about future events in past time frames.

In summary, hoffte is the conventional past-tense form for hoping in German, used mainly in writing and formal contexts, and it remains a standard grammatical component for describing past states of hope.