wussten

Wussten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) form of the German verb wissen, which means "to know." It expresses knowledge held at a past time and is commonly used in written language, narratives, and formal contexts. The present tense of the same verb is wissen. The form wussten is used with plural subjects, as in wir wussten and sie wussten, and also with Sie in formal contexts.

Conjugation and examples

The stem for the Präteritum is wusst- with the standard Präteritum endings: ich wusste, du wusstest, er wusste, wir wussten, ihr wusstet, sie wussten. For example: Wir wussten, dass der Zug Verspätung hatte. Sie wussten, wo das Museum war. Ihr wusstet, dass es heute geschlossen ist.

Usage and register

In everyday spoken German, the perfect tense with haben gewusst is often used to refer to past knowledge, as in Ich habe es gewusst. The Präteritum form wussten retains its place primarily in written narration, journalism, and literary styles, where it can convey a sequence of past facts or report statements in a more formal register. The distinction between wussten and habe gewusst is similar to other German verbs: Präteritum tends to appear in past storytelling, while Perfekt is more common in casual speech for past events.

Etymology

wissen originates from the Germanic verb for "to know" and is related to Old High German wis(s)an or wistan. It is cognate with English words such as wit and wise, reflecting a common Indo-European heritage for knowledge-related vocabulary.

See also

Wissen (infinitive), Gewusst (past participle), German verb conjugation.