verdrehten

Verdrehten is the Präteritum (simple past) form of the German verb verdrehen. The base verb verdrehen means to twist, turn, or to distort. In physical contexts it can describe twisting an object, such as wire or a screw. In figurative uses it refers to distorting, misrepresenting, or manipulating information or statements. The past participle of verdrehen is verdreht, which is used with haben to form perfect tenses (Ich habe die Wahrheit verdreht).

As a transitive verb, verdrehen requires a direct object: jemanden oder etwas verdrehen (to twist someone’s words, to twist a story, to twist a text). Common idioms include die Wahrheit verdrehen (to twist the truth) and die Worte verdrehen (to twist someone’s words). The sense of intention and manipulation is often implicit in these expressions, though the verb can also appear in neutral physical contexts without negative connotation.

Grammatically, verdrehen belongs to the strong family of German verbs formed with a prefix ver- and a stem change in certain tenses. In the Präteritum, the forms are ich verdrehte, du verdrehtest, er verdrehte, wir verdrehten, ihr verdrehtet, sie verdrehten. In the Perfekt: ich habe verdreht, du hast verdreht, etc. Subtleties in meaning arise from context; when used with a neutral object, it can simply denote physical twisting, while with abstract objects it conveys distortion or misrepresentation.

See also: verdrehen vs. verdrehenen? Note that verdrehen is often contrasted with verstellen (to adjust) and verfälschen (to falsify).