naschten

Naschten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the German verb naschen, meaning to snack or nibble. It describes an action of snacking that occurred in the past and is most commonly found in written narration or formal prose. In everyday speech, speakers often prefer the present-perfect form with haben genascht.

Conjugation in the Präteritum is as follows: ich naschte, du naschtest, er/sie/es naschte, wir naschten, ihr naschtet, sie naschten. The past participle is genascht, and the auxiliary verb used for the perfect tense is haben, as in wir haben genascht.

Usage and nuance: naschen refers to tasting or nibbling small amounts of food, often casually or indulgently, such as sweets or snacks. Naschten conveys a completed past action and can carry a light, narrative tone. The verb is more common in formal writing or older texts; in modern colloquial German, speakers typically say ich habe genascht or wir haben genascht rather than ich naschte.

Examples:

- Er naschte heimlich am Kuchen.

- Wir naschten den ganzen Abend an Pralinen.

- Sie naschten während des Films.

- Ich naschte eine Mandeln.

Related terms include knabbern, which emphasizes repetitive nibbling, and genascht, the participle used with haben to form the perfect tense.