inspirierte

Inspirierte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb inspirieren, meaning to inspire. It describes a past act of imparting inspiration to someone or something. In everyday speech, speakers more often use the present perfect with haben: hat inspiriert (has inspired). The form also appears in narrative writing to convey events in the past.

Grammatically, inspirieren is a regular verb; the Präteritum forms include ich inspirierte, du inspiriertest, er/sie/es inspirierte, wir inspirierten, ihr inspiriertet, sie inspirierten. The corresponding past participle is inspiriert, used with haben to form the present perfect or pluperfect.

Etymology: inspirieren comes from Latin inspirare "to breathe into," via medieval Latin and Old French, related to spiritus and breath. The metaphorical sense—breathing inspiration into someone or something—developed in German as to inspire or motivate.

Usage: Inspirierte is typical in prose or historical narration when recounting earlier actions. It can describe creative, motivational, or stimulative effects, as in "Der Redner inspirierte das Publikum" or "Die Geschichte inspirierte ihn." The word is not a noun; capitalization rules apply as with any German verb.

See also: Inspiration, inspirieren, inspiriert (past participle used in perfect tenses), inspirierend (inspiring).