This is the 6694th most frequent German word.
ertappte
"Erstappte" is the simple past form of "ertappen," meaning "caught" or "caught in the act" in English.
Here, 'ertappte' is reflexive and means 'caught herself,' highlighting an action Maria recognized about herself.
Maria ertappte sich dabei, wie sie den ganzen Tag träumte.
Maria caught herself daydreaming all day.
'Ertappte' is used to infer that the teacher discovered the student engaged in wrongdoing.
Der Lehrer ertappte den Schüler beim Abschreiben.
The teacher caught the student cheating.
In this sentence, 'ertappte' is used as the past tense of 'ertappen' which means 'caught in the act' or 'apprehended while committing an offense.'