lachte

Lachte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb lachen, which means to laugh. It indicates that the subject laughed at a specific time in the past. In modern spoken German, this tense is often replaced by the present perfect (hat gelacht) in everyday conversation, but lachte remains common in written texts such as narratives, reports, and literature.

Conjugation of lachen in the Präteritum includes: ich lachte, du lachtest, er/sie/es lachte, wir lachten, ihr lachtet, sie lachten. The corresponding past participle is gelacht, which is used with haben in the perfect tense (ich habe gelacht).

Usage notes: Lachte describes a completed past action of laughing and is primarily found in written or formal contexts. It is not used to describe ongoing past actions in everyday speech, where the Perfekt is preferred. It can convey narration in novels, reports, or historical writing, similar to other preterite forms in German.

Examples: Er lachte laut, als der Witz erzählt wurde. Wir lachten über das Missgeschick des Tages. Sie lachten gemeinsam, bis der Film endete.

See also: lachen, gelacht, Lachens; German verb tenses and their uses.