blätterte

Blätterte is the German simple past tense form of the verb blättern, which means to leaf through, skim, or turn the pages of a book, magazine, or document. It is commonly used in narrative prose to describe a past action of flipping through pages.

Grammatical notes: Blätterte is the preterite (simple past) form for ich and for er/sie/es. The corresponding endings are ich blätterte and er/sie/es blätterte. The second person singular is du blättertest; the plural forms are wir blätterten, ihr blättertet, sie blätterten. Blättern is a weak verb, so its past tense takes the -te/-ten endings rather than an irregular vowel change.

Usage: Blätterte appears mainly in written language, especially in historical or descriptive passages. It can describe literal page turning as well as figurative browsing through a collection of material. In everyday speech, speakers more often use the perfect tense with haben, as in er hat geblättert.

Examples:

- Er blätterte durch das Buch und suchte das Kapitel über Geschichte.

- Sie blätterte hastig die Seiten des Magazins zurück.

- Gestern blätterte er im Nachschlagewerk, um die Fakten zu überprüfen.

Related terms: Blätterteig is a different noun meaning puff pastry, capitalized as a separate word and unrelated to the verb blättern. The verb form blättern contrasts with umblättern, which specifically means to turn over to another page or to flip backward or forward.

In summary, blätterte denotes a past action of turning pages and is a standard preterite form used in written German.