steigerten

Steigerten is a German verb form belonging to the transitive verb steigern, meaning to increase, raise, or enhance. It is the Präteritum (simple past) form used with plural subjects, corresponding to “they increased” or, in formal contexts, “you (plural) increased.” The infinitive is steigern, and the past participle is gesteigert. In present tense, the verb is conjugated as ich steigere, du steigerst, er steigert, wir steigern, ihr steigert, Sie steigern; the Präteritum forms include ich steigerte, du steigertest, er steigerte, wir steigerten, ihr steigertet, sie steigerten, with steigerten specifically marking the first-person plural, third-person plural, and formal Sie in the past.

Usage and meaning

Steigerten is typically used in narrative or factual contexts to describe increases that occurred in the past. It commonly appears in reports about prices, revenues, quantities, or other measurable values that rose. The verb can be used transitively (someone increased something) or reflexively in pronominal use (die Preise steigerten sich), where the subject undergoes an increase.

Examples

- Die Preise steigerten sich im letzten Quartal. (The prices increased in the last quarter.)

- Die Umsätze steigerten sich deutlich. (The sales increased noticeably.)

Etymology and relation terms

Steigern is built from the stem steig- (from steigen, to rise) with the causative/causative-like suffix -ern. It is related to steigen, the intransitive “to rise.” The past tense form steigerten is one of several irregularities in the Präteritum of steigern, differing from the present and other tenses.

See also: steigern, steigen, gesteigert.