Wischten

Wischten is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the German verb wischen, meaning to wipe or sweep. It is used with plural subjects or with wir and sie in narratives to describe past cleaning actions. For example: Wir wischten den Boden; Die Kinder wischten Staub von den Regalen.

Grammatical notes: Wischen is a weak verb. The Präteritum forms include ich wischte, du wischtest, er wischte, wir wischten, ihr wischtet, sie wischten. The form wischten specifically marks the first-person plural or third-person plural past.

Usage: In formal written text and narrative contexts, wischten may appear to describe past actions performed by multiple subjects. In everyday speech, the Perfekt is more common, as in Wir haben gewischt, meaning “we have wiped/wiped down.” Wischten can thus convey a backstory or sequence of past events within a larger narrative.

See also: wischen, Reinigung, Haushalt.