kehrten

Kehrten is the simple past tense form (Präteritum) of the German verb kehren. It is used with plural subjects in narrative and formal writing. The verb kehren has several related senses, most commonly meaning to sweep or clean by moving a broom, but it can also mean to turn or to return in compound forms such as zurückkehren (to return).

Grammatically, kehren can be transitive (requiring a direct object) or used with prefixes to convey different meanings. In the sense of sweeping, one says den Hof kehren (to sweep the courtyard). In the sense of turning or moving to a location, it appears in compounds such as zurückkehren or umkehren; in past tense one can say sie kehrten zurück or sie kehrten nach Hause zurück. The standard Präteritum forms for singular and plural are: ich kehrte, du kehrtest, er/sie/es kehrte; wir kehrten, ihr kehrtet, sie/Sie kehrten. In everyday speech, the Perfekt (ich habe gekehrt) is more common than the Präteritum, especially in informal contexts; for the sense of returning, the Perfekt is often zurückgekehrt (Sie sind zurückgekehrt).

Examples include: Sie kehrten den Hof sauber. (They swept the courtyard clean.) Nach dem Sturm kehrten sie zurück. (After the storm, they returned.) Sie kehrten nach Hause zurück. (They returned home.)

Etymology and related forms: kehren is of Germanic origin and has cognates in other West Germanic languages, such as Dutch keren. The concept spans cleaning, turning, and returning, with several compound verbs built from kehren and prefixes to express specific movements or actions.