tauchten

Tauchten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb tauchen, meaning to dive, submerge, or plunge. It is used to describe past events in which someone or something dived or went beneath the surface.

Grammatical note: Tauchten is the Präteritum form used with first-person plural and third-person plural subjects. The full Präteritum conjugation of tauchen is: ich tauchte, du tauchtest, er/sie tauchte, wir tauchten, ihr tauchtet, sie tauchten. Therefore, tauchten appears in sentences referring to “we” or “they” in the past.

Usage: In written German and in formal narration, tauchten is common for recounting past diving actions. In everyday spoken language, the Perfekt is often preferred for past events, using forms such as wir sind/getaucht or wir haben getaucht, depending on regional usage and context. Tauchten remains standard in narratives and historical writing.

Examples: Gestern tauchten die Taucher im See. Wir tauchten vorsichtig in den Fluss hinab. Die Boote tauchten langsam, während die Sonne hinter dem Horizont verschwand.

Related terms: Eintauchen (to immerse), abtauchen (to dive down or to vanish). These compounds extend the basic sense of tauchen to specific actions or durations.

See also: German verb conjugation, Präteritum, Tauchen.