erklärte

Erklärte is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the German verb erklären, meaning to explain or to clarify. It is used to describe an explanation that occurred in the past. In the Präteritum, the form is identical for ich (I explained) and er/sie/es (he/she/it explained) as er erklärt e? Yes: both ich erklärte and er/sie/es erklärte are spelled the same, with the subject clarifying which form is intended. The other Präteritum forms are du erklärtest; wir erklärten; ihr erklärtet; sie erklärten.

Erklären is a regular (weak) verb. The past participle is erklärt, and the perfect tense is formed with haben: hat erklärt (has explained). This means you can say, for example, "Sie hat erklärt," in spoken language, or "Sie erklärte es," in narrative past.

Usage: Erklärte is common in written narration, journalism, and reported speech to recount explanations given in the past. In everyday speech, the Perfekt (hat erklärt) is often preferred in many dialects and regions, while Präteritum remains standard in formal writing.

See also: erklären, Erklärung, Verben im Präteritum.

Examples:

- Der Lehrer erklärte den Sachverhalt. (The teacher explained the matter.)

- Gestern erklärte er ihr die Funktionsweise der Maschine. (Yesterday he explained to her how the machine works.)

- Ich erklärte, warum die Maßnahme notwendig war. (I explained why the measure was necessary.)