stiegst

Stiegst is the second-person singular past tense form (preterite) of the German verb steigen, which means to climb or to go up. It corresponds to “you climbed” in English and is used mainly in written narratives or formal contexts. In everyday speech, speakers typically describe past ascent with the present perfect: du bist gestiegen.

In German, the verb steigen is a strong verb with vowel changes between tenses. The second-person singular preterite form is stiegst (spelled st- i-e-g-s-t). The related present tense form is steigst (st-e-i-g-s-t). For comparison, the full tense pattern includes: Present: ich steige, du steigst, er steigt, wir steigen, ihr steigt, sie steigen; Preterite: ich stieg, du stiegst, er stieg, wir stiegen, ihr stiegt, sie stiegen. The past participle is gestiegen, and the perfect tense is formed with sein: du bist gestiegen.

Usage notes: stiegst is primarily encountered in narrative past contexts. Because it is the past form, it is distinct from the present form steigst, which would be used for current climbing. The two forms are easily confused by learners due to their similar spelling, but their vowels (ei vs ie) indicate different tenses.

Etymology and cognates: steigen comes from Old High German stigen, with cognates in other Germanic languages such as Dutch stijgen, Swedish stiga, and Norwegian stige. These forms reflect the common Germanic root for rising or ascending actions.

See also: steigen, gestiegen, Aufstieg, ascent verbs in German.