räumte

Räumte is the simple past tense form (Präteritum) of the German verb räumen. Räumen means to clear, empty, or vacate a space, and can also mean to remove someone from a position. The form räumte can serve as ich räumte (I cleared) or er/sie/es räumte (he/she/it cleared); for plural subjects the forms are wir räumten, ihr räumten, sie räumten. In everyday speech the perfect tense (ich habe geräumt) is often used instead of the simple past.

The verb covers several related senses. One is clearing or tidying a space, as in den Tisch räumen or das Zimmer aufräumen. Another is vacating or removing people or objects from a place, for example das Feld räumen or jemanden aus dem Amt räumen. Räumen can also imply making space by removing obstacles, including the removal of snow in appropriate contexts.

Separable-prefix forms, such as aufräumen (to tidy up), show the past tense as räumte auf. In sentences this is still a single verb with the prefix separated in the past tense, e.g., Er räumte das Zimmer auf.

Etymology: räumen derives from older Germanic roots and is attested in Old High German, with cognates across West Germanic languages. The basic sense of clearing or vacating has remained central throughout its history.

Examples: Er räumte das Zimmer auf. Die Soldaten räumten das Feld. Der Minister räumte das Amt. These usages illustrate räumen’s core meanings in everyday German.