verwendeten

Verwendeten is the Präteritum (simple past) finite form of the German verb verwenden, meaning to use or employ. It is used for first-person plural and third-person plural subjects in past narratives: wir verwendeten (we used) and sie verwendeten (they used). The second-person plural form is ihr verwendetet. As a past-tense form, es denotes completed actions in the past. The corresponding past participle is verwendet, which is used with auxiliary habe or other perfect constructions.

In practice, verwendet is common in written narratives, historical accounts, and formal reporting, where the Präteritum is standard for past events. In everyday spoken German, the Perfekt (haben verwendet) is often preferred for past actions, especially in conversational contexts, though wir verwendeten and sie verwendeten still appear in spoken language, particularly in retellings or more formal speech.

Usage notes:

- Verwendeten functions as a finite verb and governs subject-verb agreement.

- It cannot be used as a noun; the noun form related to use is usage or Verwendung, depending on context.

- The verb framework is regular in the Präteritum: the stem verwenden plus the standard Präteritum endings, with the plural forms ending in -ten (wir verwendeten, sie verwendeten).

Example sentences:

- Wir verwendeten eine neue Methode, um die Messdaten zu erheben.

- Die Wissenschaftler verwendeten verschiedene Techniken, um das Experiment zu überprüfen.

Etymology:

Verwenden derives from a Germanic root with the prefix ver-, combined with wenden (to turn or apply), yielding a sense of applying or employing something for a purpose.