schlief
Translation
slept
Examples
Ich schlief gestern sehr gut.
I slept very well yesterday.
Das Baby schlief den ganzen Nachmittag.
The baby slept the whole afternoon.
Grammar Patterns
Subject + schlief + 〈adverbial〉 (sb.) slept I slept soundly.
Similar Words
Synonyms: ruhte (rested); Antonyms: wachte auf (woke up)
Etymology
The simple past (Präteritum) of the strong verb 'schlafen' (to sleep). It shows a typical vowel change (Ablaut) from 'a' to 'ie'.
Memory Tips
Like 'sleep' becomes 'slept' in English, 'schlafen' becomes 'schlief'. The 'ie' sound is a common feature in the past tense of German strong verbs (e.g., lief, hieß).