verteidigte

Verteidigte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb verteidigen, meaning to defend or to advocate for. It is used in narrative or formal writing to describe a past act of defending, protecting, or arguing on someone’s behalf. The form appears with different grammatical subjects, for example ich verteidigte (I defended) or er verteidigte (he defended).

Conjugation and usage: In the Präteritum, verteidigte covers the corresponding forms for all singular and plural subjects: ich verteidigte, du verteidigest (more common is du verteidigtest), er verteidigte, wir verteidigten, ihr verteidigtet, sie verteidigten. The related past participle is verteidigt, which pairs with haben to form the present perfect: ich habe verteidigt. The plain past tense verteidigte should be distinguished from the related but different verb form verteidigt (past participle) used in compound tenses.

Etymology and related forms: Verteidigen is a standard German verb whose meaning centers on defense and advocacy. There is a separate noun Verteidigung (defense) and a noun for a defender, Verteidiger. The form verteidigte itself is strictly a verb form and does not function as a standalone noun. The verb spins a range of tenses through its stems and prefixes, with verteidigte serving specifically the simple past narrative function.

Examples: In a sentence: "Der Angeklagte verteidigte seine Unschuld." or "In der Debatte verteidigte er seine Position mit Nachdruck." These illustrate the past-tense usage of verteidigte in describing defended assertions or actions.