schrien

Schrien is the simple past tense (preterite) form of the German verb schreien, which means to scream, shout loudly, or cry out. As a preterite form, schrien is used to describe past actions, typically in written narratives or formal reporting. The infinitive of the verb is schreien, and the past participle is geschrien, which is used with the auxiliary haben in the perfect tenses (ich habe geschrien).

Conjugation and forms:

Present tense: ich schreie, du schreist, er schreit, wir schreien, ihr schreit, sie schreien.

Preterite (schrien): ich schrie, du schriebst, er schrie, wir schrien, ihr schrien, sie schrien.

Past participle: geschrien.

Usage:

Schrien appears in literature and formal writing to denote a past act of screaming, especially with plural subjects or in narrative past. In everyday spoken German, speakers more often use the present perfect form: ich habe geschrien, du hast geschrien, etc., to refer to past events. The verb covers loud vocal expressions such as fear, pain, alarm, or a call for attention, and it can combine with prepositional phrases like um Hilfe schreien or nach Hilfe schreien, or be used in direct quotation or reported speech.

Examples:

Der Mann schrie um Hilfe. Die Menge schrien vor Freude. In both cases, schrien marks past-tense action: the first example uses the singular past form schrie, the second uses the plural schrien.

Etymology:

Schrien derives from the Germanic verb schreien in its historical forms and is cognate with related verbs in other West Germanic languages, such as Dutch schreeuwen and English scream.