écrivirent

Écrivirent is the third-person plural form in the passé simple, a literary past tense, of the French verb écrire. It corresponds to "they wrote" in English and is primarily found in literary, historical, or formal writing. In contemporary spoken French, the passé composé (ils ont écrit) is far more common.

Conjugation and usage details: écrire is irregular in the passé simple. The forms for the verb in the passé simple are j'écrivis, tu écrivis, il écrivit, nous écrivîmes, vous écrivîtes, ils écrivirent. The form écrivirent specifically is used for the action performed by a group in the past within a narrative. The passé simple is often used to advance a story or describe completed actions in a sequence, especially in classic literature, historical chronicles, or formal prose.

Etymology and context: écrire comes from Latin scribere, via Old French escrire and related forms. The passé simple form écrivirent reflects historical verb endings that remain standard in written, non-speech French. In modern usage, writers may opt for the passé composé or other tenses to convey past events, reserving the passé simple for stylistic or traditional contexts.

Example: Ils écrivirent une lettre avant de partir pour le voyage. This illustrates the typical narrative function of the passé simple in describing a completed action by the subject group.