steckte

Steckte is a conjugated form of the German verb stecken. It is the Präteritum (simple past) form used for ich steckte and er/sie/es steckte. The corresponding past participle is gesteckt, which is used with the auxiliary haben to form perfect tenses (ich habe gesteckt, er hat gesteckt).

Stecken has several related meanings. In a transitive sense, it means to insert or place something into or inside another thing: Er steckte den Schlüssel in die Tasche. It can also mean to push something into a receptacle or to hide something by placing it inside another object. Intransitively, it can describe being located or stuck in a place: Der Stift steckt im Mäppchen. Figuratively, it can express involvement, entanglement, or being in a difficult situation: Sie steckt in Problemen. The expression in Schwierigkeiten stecken is common.

Origin and cognates: Stecken is of Germanic origin and is cognate with Dutch steken and English stick. The Präteritum form steckte is more commonly found in written German; in everyday speech speakers typically use perfect forms such as ich habe gesteckt or er hat gesteckt.

Notes: The infinitive is stecken; the past participle is gesteckt. The form steckte is the simple past tense form used for ich steckte and er/sie/es steckte. The meaning of steckte is determined by context and by the presence of objects or prepositional phrases in the sentence.