schmückten

Schmückten is the simple past tense form (Präteritum) of the German verb schmücken, meaning to decorate or adorn. It denotes a completed decorative action in the past and is used with subjects in the plural or in formal contexts. The full Präteritum conjugation for schmücken is: ich schmückte, du schmücktest, er/sie/es schmückte, wir schmückten, ihr schmücktet, sie/Sie schmückten. The corresponding past participle is geschmückt, which is used with auxiliary haben to form the present perfect (ich habe geschmückt, sie hat geschmückt).

Etymology and related forms: schmücken comes from the German verb family for decorating, with historical forms in Old and Middle High German. The exact origin is uncertain, but the word has cognates in related Germanic languages, reflecting a long-standing meaning of adornment or decoration. As a verb, schmücken forms regular weak conjugations in the Präteritum, producing schmückten for the appropriate persons and numbers.

Usage and examples: Schmückten is commonly found in narrative texts describing past events related to decoration, such as holiday setups, venue embellishments, or personal adornment. Example sentences: Wir schmückten den Baum mit Kugeln und Lichtern. Die Wände schmückten sich mit Blumen. In perfect tenses, the action is expressed with geschmückt (Der Baum ist geschmückt).

See also: schmücken, geschmückt, Schmuck.