spredte

Spredte is the simple past tense form of the Danish and Norwegian verb sprede, meaning to spread, scatter, or distribute. It is used to describe an action completed in the past in which something was spread out over an area or among recipients. The form appears in both Danish and Norwegian as the standard past tense for this verb, and it can be used with transitive constructions (spreading something) or intransitive reflexive constructions (spredte seg, meaning that something spread itself or became widespread).

In usage, spredte covers a wide range of contexts. For example, Danish: Hun spredte frøene i bedet (She spread the seeds in the flower bed). Norwegian: Nyheten spredte seg raskt (The news spread quickly). In both languages, the action is presented as completed in the past. The related form spredt is the past participle, used with have/has or had to form perfect tenses, as in har spredt or hadde spredt.

Etymology and related forms: spredte derives from the same roots as the verb sprede found in Danish and Norwegian, with cognates in other North Germanic languages. The past tense form parallels similar patterns in neighboring languages, contributing to its recognizable meaning across contexts of distribution or diffusion.

See also: sprede, spredning (distribution or spread), spredningens konsekvenser. The term is primarily a grammatical inflection rather than a standalone concept, serving to situate actions of spreading in the past within Danish and Norwegian usage.