sparen
German, verb/ˈʃpaːrən/
sparen is a German verb meaning “to save up; to accumulate, to put aside (for a specific purpose)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “Geld für die spätere Verwendung ansammeln”.
What does sparen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to save up; to accumulate, to put aside (for a specific purpose)
Ich spare mein Geld für ein neues Auto.
- 2
to save, to conserve (for example energy)
Die Heizung herunterdrehen, um Energie zu sparen.
- 3
to save, be able to save (as unnecessary or useless), keep something to oneself
Du kannst dir den Atem sparen, er hört nicht auf dich.
- 4
to save, to spare (from effort, an unpleasant or unnecessary task)
Danke für den Zucker, du sparst mir einen Besuch im Laden.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Geld für die spätere Verwendung ansammeln 2. weniger Geld ausgeben 3. mit einer bestimmten Ressource sparsam umgehen 4. auf etwas (meist Unnötiges) verzichten können
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of sparen
- spart present singular third-person
- sparte past
- gespart participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sparend participle present
- spare first-person indicative present
- sparst indicative present second-person
- sparest second-person singular subjunctive
- sparet plural second-person subjunctive
- sparten first-person indicative plural
- spartest indicative preterite second-person
- spartet indicative plural preterite
- spar imperative second-person singular
- habe gespart first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gespart first-person indicative multiword-construction
- spare! imperative singular
- spart! imperative plural
- gespart haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce sparen?
- /ˈʃpaːrən/
- [ˈʃpaː.ʁən]
- [ʃpaː(ɐ̯)n]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to sparen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sparen in German?
sparen appears 45 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).