leitete

Leitete is the simple past tense form of the German verb leiten, meaning to lead, direct, or manage. It is used to describe past leadership or direction, typically in written narrative or formal reporting. The verb leiten covers leading an organization, department, project, or process, as well as guiding someone or something through a task or operation.

Morphology and usage

Leiten is a regular verb in its past tense, with the Präteritum forms: ich leitete, du leitetest, er/sie/es leitete, wir leiteten, ihr leitetet, sie/Sie leiteten. The form leitete specifically appears in the first-person singular (ich leitete) and third-person singular (er leitete). The past participle is geleitet and is used with haben to form the present perfect: Ich habe die Abteilung geleitet.

Examples

- Gestern leitete er die Sitzung erfolgreich. (Yesterday he led the meeting successfully.)

- Von 2010 bis 2015 leitete sie das Team. (From 2010 to 2015 she led the team.)

- Sie hat die Abteilung geleitet, bevor sie zur Geschäftsführung gewechselt ist. (She has led the department before moving to the management.)

Related forms and nouns

The related noun Leitung denotes leadership or management (as a concept) and also a conduit or line, such as a pipe or electrical lead. The noun Leiter/Leiterin means leader or person in charge, while Leiter can also mean ladder depending on context.

Etymology

Leiten belongs to the Germanic family of verbs meaning to lead or guide. It has cognates in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch leiden and Swedish leda, reflecting a common root related to guiding or directing.