urteilte

Urteilte is the simple past tense form (Präteritum) of the German verb urteilen, which means to judge, assess, or form an opinion. As a past-tense form, urteilte appears mainly in written German, such as narrative prose or formal reporting. In everyday spoken German, the past tense using the perfect is more common: er hat geurteilt.

Conjugation in Präteritum (examples): ich urteilte, du urteiltest, er/sie/es urteilte, wir urteilten, ihr urteiltet, sie/Sie urteilten. The form is typically used when describing actions in the past or when a sequence of events is narrated. The verb often takes a direct object or a clause introduced by dass or über: zum Beispiel, Der Richter urteilte über den Fall. or Sie urteilte, dass die Entscheidung gerecht sei.

Usage notes: urteilen can take different objects, such as über jemanden/etwas (to judge someone or something) or über eine Situation. The noun Urteil, meaning verdict or judgment, is related in meaning but is a distinct word and is capitalized as a noun. The past tense urteilte must not be confused with this noun form.

Etymology: urteilen derives from the same semantic root as the noun Urte i l, both connected to forming a judgment or assessment. The word is widely used in legal, literary, and general contexts to describe forming an opinion or making a judgment about people, cases, or situations.