So, you’re trying to figure out how do you say down in German. Sounds easy, right? You probably looked it up on a translation app and saw unten. Or maybe hinunter. Or runter. Now you’re standing there, staring at a staircase in Berlin, wondering why there are five different ways to say a four-letter English word. Honestly, German is like that. It’s a language that cares deeply about where you are and where you’re going. If you just say "unten" when you mean "go down," a native speaker will know what you mean, but it'll sound just a little bit off.
German is directional.
Think of it this way: English is lazy. We use "down" for a location (I am down here), a direction (look down), and a movement (go down). German, being the precise machine it is, demands you specify the vibe. Are you already at the bottom? Are you moving toward the bottom? Are you moving toward the person speaking, or away from them? It’s a lot to process while you’re just trying to find the U-Bahn entrance.
The Great Divide: Unten vs. Runter
If you remember nothing else, remember this: Unten is a place. Runter is an action.
If your keys are in the basement, they are unten. They aren't moving; they’re just sitting there on a dusty shelf next to a jar of pickles. But if you drop your keys and they fall into a sewer grate, they are going runter. Most learners mix these up because they think of "down" as a singular concept. In German, you have to split your brain between "static" and "dynamic."
Let’s look at unten. You’ll find this in phrases like da unten (down there) or nach unten (towards the bottom). If you’re at the top of the Eiffel Tower looking at the tiny people, they are unten. It’s a state of being.
Why "Runter" is Your Best Friend
Now, runter is actually a lazy version of herunter. In casual conversation—which is what you’ll actually hear at a bar or on the street—Germans love to chop off the first syllable. Runterkommen (to come down) is way more common than the formal herunterkommen.
You use this when movement is involved. "Come down here!" becomes "Komm runter!"
But wait, there’s a catch. Because German loves logic, there is also hinunter.
The "Hin" and "Her" Headache
This is where things get spicy. German uses prefixes to show which way the wind is blowing. Her means toward the speaker. Hin means away from the speaker.
- Herunter: You are at the bottom of the stairs, and you want your dog to come down to you.
- Hinunter: You are at the top of the stairs, and you’re telling your kid to go down to the kitchen.
In real life? Nobody has time for that. Most people just say runter and let the context do the heavy lifting. But if you’re taking a TestDaF or trying to impress a linguistic professor in Heidelberg, you need to know the difference. The distinction is subtle but vital for sounding like a pro. Essentially, herunter and hinunter are the parents, and runter is the rebellious teenager who moved out and simplified their life.
Navigating the Nuance of "Ab"
Then we have ab. This is another way to say "down," but it’s usually used in a more functional or technical sense. Think of "down" as in "off" or "reduced."
If a price goes down, you use abwärts or talk about things being herabgesetzt. If you’re talking about "down" as in a downward slope, you might hear steil bergab. It’s less about "I am going downstairs" and more about the trajectory of a graph or a mountain trail.
Actually, ab is everywhere. It’s in absteigen (to climb down/dismount) and abnehmen (to lose weight—literally "to take down"). It’s a versatile little syllable that does a lot of grunt work in the German vocabulary.
Common Phrases You’ll Actually Use
Let’s get practical. You aren't just here for a grammar lesson; you want to survive a trip to Munich.
If you’re in a restaurant and you want to sit down, you don't say "I want to go down." You say "Ich möchte mich setzen." But if someone tells you to sit down, they might say "Setz dich hin." Notice the hin? That’s that directional logic again. You are moving your body away from a standing position to a sitting one.
What about feeling "down" emotionally? This is a classic trap. If you say "Ich bin unten," people might think you are literally standing in the basement. To say you’re feeling depressed or sad, you’d say "Ich bin deprimiert" or the more colloquial "Ich bin schlecht drauf." Or, if you want to be really German about it, "Ich bin deprimiert wegen des Wetters" (I’m depressed because of the weather), which is basically a national pastime in the winter.
"Down" in Professional Settings
In a business context, "down" changes again. If a server is down, IT will say "Der Server ist down." Yes, they literally use the English word. German is surprisingly riddled with Anglicisms when it comes to technology. If the stock market is down, it’s niedriger or im Minus.
You see, how do you say down in German depends entirely on whether you're talking about a computer, your mood, a staircase, or a discount on a pair of Birkenstocks.
Surprising Traps for English Speakers
One of the weirdest things for English speakers is the word da. You’ll often hear da unten. In English, we just say "down there." In German, that da is doing a lot of pointing. It’s a physical anchor.
Another trap is the "Down syndrome" translation. In German, it’s Down-Syndrom. It stays the same because it’s named after John Langdon Down, a British doctor. Don’t try to translate "Down" here into Unten-Syndrom unless you want to be met with total confusion and a bit of offense.
And then there's the feathers. If you're looking for a "down" jacket, you’re looking for Daunen. It sounds similar, but the spelling is different. If you ask for an "unten" jacket, you’re going to get a very confused look from the shop assistant at Karstadt.
The Physicality of the Language
Expert linguists like those at the Goethe-Institut often point out that German is a very "physical" language. It cares about your position in 3D space. When you ask how do you say down in German, you’re really asking for a coordinate.
Think about the verb sinken. A ship doesn't go "unten"; it sinkt. The water level doesn't go "runter"; it sinkt or fällt. There is a specific verb for almost every type of downward movement. This might feel overwhelming, but it’s actually a gift. It allows for a level of precision that English sometimes lacks without using three extra adjectives.
How to Practice Without Going Crazy
You don’t need to memorize a table of 40 words today. Start small.
Next time you’re walking, look at the ground and think unten. When you’re walking down the stairs, think ich gehe runter. When you see a price drop, think reduziert.
Honestly, the best way to get this right is to listen to how native speakers use it in movies or podcasts. You'll notice that runter is the king of the "down" world in daily life. It’s the Swiss Army knife of German directions.
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Actionable Steps for Mastering "Down"
- Ditch the dictionary for a moment. Stop looking for a 1:1 translation. It doesn't exist.
- Learn the "Runter" rule. Use runter for any movement. It’s 90% accurate for daily speech.
- Use "Unten" for locations. If you can put a "the" in front of it in English (the bottom), use unten.
- Watch for prefixes. If a verb starts with ab-, it probably involves going down or off. Abfahren (to drive off/down), absteigen (to descend).
- Listen for "Da unten." This is the most natural way to point something out on the floor or a lower level.
German isn't trying to be difficult; it’s just trying to be clear. Once you stop fighting the need for a single word and embrace the directional logic, you’ll stop translating in your head and start speaking. You’ve got this. Just keep going runter that rabbit hole of grammar—it gets easier the further you go.
Start by labeling things in your house. Put a sticky note on the basement door that says UNTEN and one on the top of the stairs that says NACH UNTEN. Visual cues are the fastest way to bypass the translation lag in your brain. Next time someone asks you where your shoes are, and they happen to be on the floor below, you won't hesitate. You'll just say, "Die sind unten," and feel like a local.