geurteilt

Geurteilt is the past participle of the German verb urteilen, meaning to judge, form an opinion, or assess. It denotes that a judgment has been made about someone or something. The form is used in perfect constructions with the auxiliary haben (er hat geurteilt) and in passive or impersonal statements (es wird geurteilt).

In usage, geurteilt expresses a concluded assessment rather than a legal conviction. In legal language, the noun Urteil refers to a formal ruling, while urteilen can still be used to report a judge’s or expert’s opinion within sentences like “Der Richter hat über den Fall geurteilt.” In everyday language it is common to say someone has geurteilt about a topic, as in “Der Kritiker hat das Buch geurteilt.” The expression can be followed by über plus a target (über den Vorschlag) or by a direct object.

Distinctions with related verbs are important. Verurteilen means to condemn or convict in a legal sense, or to strongly condemn generally. Beurteilen means to evaluate or assess and gives the past participle beurteilt. Although all three share a core sense of forming a judgment, they carry different connotations and are used in distinct contexts.

Etymology: geurteilt derives from urteilen, itself rooted in the Germanic concept of forming a judgment or opinion. The noun Urteils (Urteil) denotes a judgment or ruling.

See also: Urteil, verurteilen, beurteilen.