I've heard that both "hinunter" and "nach unten" means "downwards". They both mean a direction (while lone "unten" means a location).
What is the difference between them?
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1These words are far from having a similar meaning. What did your research at dictionaries tell you, and what didn't you understand? nach makes the difference regarding the location.– πάντα ῥεῖCommented Mar 7, 2020 at 18:52
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4@πάνταῥεῖ Here it says specifically that they are synonymous. From experience I know, that answers here give bigger insight. But I suppose word questions are now frowned upon?– mz71Commented Mar 7, 2020 at 19:05
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3@πάνταῥεῖ From what I know, unter is a location, while hinunter is a direction. runter can mean both (so I edited the question). Am I mistaken?– mz71Commented Mar 7, 2020 at 19:06
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1"runter can mean both" No runter never means a specific location. Where did you get that from?– πάντα ῥεῖCommented Mar 7, 2020 at 19:13
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4OP is right and you're wrong @πάνταῥεῖ. Ich gehe nach unten, Ich gehe hinunter und Ich gehe (he-)runter can all mean the same thing.– infinitezeroCommented Mar 7, 2020 at 19:34
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1 Answer
Depending on the context, these two terms are relatively synonymous. The main difference is that hinunter explicitly expresses a move away from the speaker. The opposite would be herunter - a move towards the speaker.
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1While this might be the definition you find in a dictionary, I think many Germans are unaware of this and colloquially use these two words as they please. Commented Mar 8, 2020 at 10:00
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<trying to be funny> Swabians distinguish between directions depending on the position of the narrator ("naa" and "raa"). But one can argue if that's German at all :-) </trying to be funny>– user41853Commented Mar 8, 2020 at 10:14
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