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In German there is runterladen or herunterladen for the term to download.

Is there a common translation for the noun of download that could be used for translating i.g.

the amount of downloads available

or

How many downloads does this file have?

?

Edit 1: I am aware of the fact that Duden knows the word Download.

Edit 2: I am also aware that Download is a widely used word in German language.

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Wouldn't using the verb on a button make more sense than using a noun anyway? I mean the button initiates an action, right? – sepp2k Jun 5 '11 at 17:44
Ok, maybe the example is not that good. Another edit, here we go... – keyboardsurfer Jun 5 '11 at 17:45
Is download used for the downloaded files too, those how must be checked by some anti virus software? – bernd_k Jun 5 '11 at 18:07
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Sorry the new examples don't help to understand how you use the word download because you use it in context of talking about the word not in context of using it. – bernd_k Jun 5 '11 at 18:16

7 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

I'm pretty sure there is no translation into a German word for the noun "download". Download has in fact become a loanword.

You could paraphrase it the following way though avoiding the noun.

Example:

There were 20 000 downloads the first day.

Translation:

Am ersten Tag wurde es 20 000 mal vom Server geladen.

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up vote 4 down vote

Hier für 2 verschiedene Bedeutungen Übersetzungen des Wortes download als Substantiv.

Es gab 20000 Abrufe der Datei.

Das Heruntergeladene wurde auf Viren überprüft.

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"Das Heruntergeladene" sounds awkward in the extreme. – Eugene Seidel Feb 11 at 18:29
up vote 4 down vote

to download sth. = etw. herunterladen

to upload sth. = etw. hochladen

the download = das Herunterladen, der Download

the upload = das Hochladen, der Upload

This link would be useful: http://www.leo.org/

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Ich denke, daß "download" im Deutschen angekommen ist. Man kann ja auch 'upgeloadet' und 'downgeloaded' sagen. – Steffen Roller Feb 12 at 19:58
up vote 3 down vote

Most software, including Firefox, goes with Download as the noun.

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Yes, I am aware of that fact. But is there an appropriate translation for it? – keyboardsurfer Jun 5 '11 at 17:40
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@keyboardsurfer I don't think there is, which is why the loanword has been adopted. – misterben Jun 5 '11 at 18:32
up vote 3 down vote

You could use "das Herunterzuladende" for one download and analogously "Herunterzuladendes" for multiple downloads. So your (edited) example could be translated as "Die Menge an Herunterzuladendem". But frankly that sounds quite awkward. There really is no German translation for the noun download which does not sound more awkward than just using "Download".

However in many cases it might make sense to just use a more specific word than "Download". For example if you're talking about a website where you can download applications, you might just say "die Anzahl der Programme auf [Name der Seite]" instead of "Downloads".

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You will never hear or read "das Herunterzuladende" or "Herunterzuladendes" from a native German speaker. Download needs no further translation. – fab Feb 12 at 16:06
up vote 1 down vote

If you use "Download" as a noun, germans will think you mean the Process of downloading something. For example:

"Die Datei gibt es auf der Website als Download." "Meine Downloads sind fertig." "Bei drei gleichzeitigen Downloads bricht die Internetverbindung zusammen."

in all contexts, the Noun refers to the Process and not the object of the process.

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up vote 0 down vote

I would've thought download could just be unterladen (down-load) and downloads to be the same word with "den" prefixed or something like that, since it has "en" already, and can maybe work as plural and singular. My German isn't perfect, so don't take my word for it; I'm just giving off some thoughts of mine.

I usually use, for example: "Das ist ein Herunterladen." and people understand me just fine. Or, "Ich kann es herunterladen." if it's more of an action. Uhm, I think I'm with those that say you can just ambiguously say it.. in a sortof roundabout way. xD Hah. It's not perfect, at all, but it could work. Sorry to reiterate what you probably already know, but ho hum, there's my thoughts.

Ich fragte ein Deutscher Freund und er ist mal über das denken. xD Oke, leider er hat auch keine Ahnung, und so ziemlich sag dass du kannst einfach "download" sagen. -.- ...welche du schon gewusst. xD Mir leid!

Viel glück.

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I discourage the usage of das Herunterladen as a noun, because it's already used as a nominalization of the verb herunterladen. For example Das Herunterladen großer Dateien dauert lange is ok (nominalization) but Die Band bietet ihr neues Album als Herunterladen an. is not. – Deve Feb 8 at 16:11

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