räumen

Räumen is a German verb meaning to clear away, to vacate, or to free up space. It encompasses removing objects from a surface, making room, and withdrawing from a location. In everyday speech it appears in phrases such as den Tisch räumen (to clear the table) or die Wohnung räumen (to vacate the apartment). It can also mean to clear a path or space, as in den Weg räumen.

In broader contexts räumen can describe the removal of people or obstacles from a place, or, in military or administrative language, the act of clearing an area or withdrawing forces. The nuance depends on the object: with space-related objects the focus is on creating room; with people or occupants it often implies evacuation or exclusion.

Grammar: Räumen is a regular verb. It is not separable. Present tense forms: ich räume, du räumst, er räumt, wir räumen, ihr räumt, sie räumen. Präteritum: räumte; past participle: geräumt. It takes a direct object and can be used in transitive constructions such as “jemanden räumen” in certain stylistic contexts.

Relation to related forms: ausräumen means to empty completely, aufräumen means to tidy up, and Räumung or das Räumen refers to the act of clearing or evacuation in noun form. Etymologically, räumen derives from older Germanic roots connected with clearing space, and it shares cognates related to Raum (space).

Examples of use help distinguish meanings: “den Tisch räumen” (clear the table), “die Wohnung räumen” (vacate the apartment), “den Weg räumen” (clear the way).