koppelte

Koppelte is the simple past tense form of the German verb koppeln, which means to couple, join, or connect. The form is used to describe a completed action in the past, for example when describing how two parts were joined or how devices were linked at a previous time. The corresponding past participle is gekoppt? Wait, no: gekoppelt.

Conjugation notes: Koppeln is a regular verb. In the Präteritum (simple past), forms include ich koppelte, du koppeltest, er/sie/es koppelte, wir koppelten, ihr koppeltet, sie koppellten. The form koppelte occurs in the first and third person singular, as in ich koppelte or er koppelte. In the present perfect, the verb uses the auxiliary haben with the past participle gekoppelt (ich habe gekoppelt, er hat gekoppelt).

Usage and contexts: Koppeln and its past tense kopplete are common in technical, mechanical, and logistical contexts, such as linking components, pairing sensors, or joining railway cars. In everyday language, the past participle gekoppelt is more frequent in spoken style, while the simple past koppelte appears in written narrative or formal reporting. Example: Gestern koppelte der Techniker die Sensoren an das System. The concept can also be extended metaphorically to linking ideas or data sets.

Etymology and related terms: The verb koppeln derives from the noun Koppel, meaning a coupling or linkage, and is cognate with related Germanic terms such as Dutch koppelen. Related nouns include Kopplung (coupling) and Verknüpfung (linking). See also: koppeln, Kopplung, Verknüpfung.