No, this is not a post about how Germans might save their money differently to you, this is a post about the word ‘sparen’ and nouns beginning with ‘Spar…’.
The idea came over Christmas when I got this present:
What is it, you may wonder?
The label says: Sparstrumpf
It’s a money stocking or money sock, one way of saving your money at home.
There are quite a few nouns beginning with ‘Spar…’
- der Sparstrumpf – money stocking
- die Spardose/ Sparbüchse – money box
- das Sparschwein – money box which looks like a pig
- die Sparkasse – savings bank
- das Sparbuch – savings book
- das Sparkonto – savings account
- das Sparguthaben – savings in a bank/ savings balance
- das Spargeld – savings (lit. saved money)
- die Sparmaßnahme – austeritiy measure
- das Spardeck – not a money term but nautical, the spar deck
The adjective sparsam means thrifty and sparend means saving, as in Zeit sparend – time-saving. The verb sparen means to save.
I might use my Sparstrumpf to save for a new car (although I do realise that I will need to fill the sock more than once!): Ich spare für ein neues Auto. I could also say Ich spare auf ein neues Auto.
What are you saving for? Ich spare für …
Of course, apart from saving money – Geld sparen – you could…
- Energie sparen – save energy
- Kosten sparen – save costs
- Platz sparen – save space
- Steuern sparen – save on tax
- Strom sparen – save electricity
- Wasser sparen – save water
- Zeit sparen – save time
- am Essen sparen – being stingy with food
- keine Mühe sparen – go out of one’s way
- am falschen Fleck sparen – save on the wrong things
- an allen Ecken sparen – cut corners
- sich seine Worte sparen – save one’s breath
So watch out that nobody ever says to you “Sparen Sie sich Ihre Worte!” or informally “Spar dir deine Worte!” (You’re wasting your breath!) .
And make sure you won’t end up broke (pleite).
I’ll leave you with a little bit from Mary Poppins, to which you can say “Das hättest du dir sparen können!” (That was unnecessary!) ☺