näherten

In a sentence

• Die Wanderer näherten sich dem Gipfel des Berges.

  The hikers approached the mountain's summit.

  In this sentence, 'näherten' is the past-tense third-person plural form of the verb 'nähern', used in its reflexive form 'sich nähern', which means 'to approach' or 'draw near' to something. Here, it describes the hikers moving closer to the mountain summit.

• Als wir uns dem Gebäude näherten, konnten wir die Lichter sehen.

  As we approached the building, we could see the lights.

  Here, 'näherten' is used in the first-person plural to describe the speaker and their group's action of moving closer to the building. The reflexive pronoun 'uns' indicates the subject performing the action.

• Das Schiff näherten die Bojen, die den sicheren Hafen markieren.

  The ship approached the buoys marking the safe harbor.

  In this example, 'näherten' is in the third-person plural form to describe the ship moving closer to the buoys. The verb denotes movement towards a specific location or object.