spürten

Spürten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb spüren, meaning to feel, sense, or perceive. It is used to describe sensations, emotions, or perceptual cues that occurred in the past. In narrative or reporting, spürten conveys what characters or subjects experienced at a given moment. Examples include: Wir spürten den kalten Wind im Gesicht, and Sie spürten die Anspannung im Raum. The formal address also uses the same form in the past: Sie spürten den Unterschied.

Etymology and usage: spüren comes from Germanic roots related to perception and touch, with cognates in related Germanic languages. The word is common in everyday German and appears in both spoken and written contexts. Spürten is not used as a noun; it remains a verb form.

Conjugation and grammar: spüren is a regular weak verb. In Präteritum, its forms are: ich spürte, du spürtest, er/sie/es spürte, wir spürten, ihr spürtet, sie spürten; the formal address also takes spürten in the past: Sie spürten. The form spürten is thus primarily associated with plural subjects and with the formal You in past tense. In contrast, the present perfect (ich habe gespürt) is often used in spoken German to describe past sensations or perceptions.

Usage notes: Spürten is most common in written narrative and formal past-tense narration. In everyday speech, speakers frequently use the present tense with contextual cues or switch to the present perfect for past sensations, depending on regional preference.