schlenderten

Schlenderten is the Präteritum (simple past) form of the German verb schlendern. It is used with plural subjects such as wir and sie (as in wir schlenderten or sie schlenderten) and also appears in formal address as Sie schlenderten. The corresponding third-person singular past tense is schlenderte. The meaning remains to stroll or saunter: to walk slowly and without a fixed destination, often with a leisurely, unhurried pace.

Usage and nuance: Schlendern denotes a relaxed, unhurried mode of movement and is common in descriptive or narrative prose. In everyday conversation, speakers more frequently use the Perfekt form sind geschlendert or simply spazieren gehen. Schlenderten thus tends to appear in literary or past-tense narration, where the tempo and mood of a scene are being conveyed. The term carries neutral to lightly positive connotations, depending on context, and is closely related to, but sometimes distinguished from, flanieren (to stroll with a sense of pleasant engagement) and bummeln (to drift or wander without a fixed plan).

Examples: Wir schlenderten durch die Altstadt und genossen die Architektur. Sie schlenderten am Flussufer, ohne Eile.

See also: schlendern; flanieren; bummeln; spazieren.