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Let's say you're packing your bags for a camping trip with friends, and once you're finished you take a quick look at your packing list, in American English one might say:

Sleeping bag? Check.

Sunscreen? Check.

Hand sanitizer? Check.

and the list goes on...

Basically, it's something you say when something on a list has been dealt with.

Is there a German equivalent?

KeN SmilePachI
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    I have sometimes heared Germans using the English word "Check" in this situation (while the sentence or words before the word "Check" were German). – Martin Rosenau Dec 16 '21 at 10:11
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    It might be worth noting that the English here might be interpreted differently by British and American speakers, and this might affect the German translation. In British English "Check." as written here is likely to be taken as an instruction to determine whether or not something has been done, not as an assertion that it has been done. The BrE word for the latter usage would be "Tick.". – Michael Kay Dec 17 '21 at 12:08

5 Answers5

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There is not one as common word as 'check' in English. What you use depends on context and situation. It could be (probably among others)

  • Ok
  • Ja(woll)
  • Hier
  • Hab(e)
  • Ist da
  • Passt
  • Stimmt
  • Vorhanden
  • Abgehakt
  • Or indeed the very same: check
whme
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planetmaker
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    No German ever uses "Jawohl" in a non-sarcastic way outside the military. – Marianne013 Dec 16 '21 at 10:58
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    I can vouch for it being used also outside military without any sarcasm, even when not often – planetmaker Dec 16 '21 at 11:05
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    "no German ever" is screaming for refutation. a softer formulation would be more effective. – choXer Dec 16 '21 at 11:42
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    @choXer "No True Scots...German." https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/no-true-scotsman – Mindwin Remember Monica Dec 16 '21 at 12:36
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    @Mindwin Maybe you should pick a link for yourself. I have in no way doubted the basic criticism. – choXer Dec 16 '21 at 15:17
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    "Jawoll" might be used in a sarcastic sense (only then!) and "Habe" is plain wrong. But the rest of the list looks fine. – barfuin Dec 16 '21 at 20:52
  • @barfuin just because you don't know or use it, doesn't make it less true. Especially when going through a packing list and verifying presence of items a curt response like "Hab'" is quite common (if you actually have it / see it). – planetmaker Dec 16 '21 at 23:02
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    @planetmaker I assume it's short for "Ich habe es"? Or perhaps, "Ich habe es getan?" – BruceWayne Dec 17 '21 at 16:50
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    Ja, genau (Ich) hab(e) (es) (getan). – planetmaker Dec 17 '21 at 16:59
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    Jou. Ja. Jupp. Dô (dialect for “da”, there). – mirabilos Dec 17 '21 at 17:25
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    @planetmaker Interesting, I'm from Lower Saxony, I have never used "hab" in the sense of "das habe ich getan", neither have I heard it. "Hab ich" is quite common (both as short for "das habe ich" in the sense of "das besitze ich" as well as "das habe ich getan"), but never simply "hab" or "habe". I collected anecdotal evidence from my flatmates from Leipzig and Munich, neither have they ever used "hab". May I ask you if you speak some dialect? Or is this youth language? Perhaps I'm too old. – EpicBroccoli Dec 18 '21 at 10:58
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    also "stimmt" is dubious for the situation described in the question. "Stimmt" is appropriate in the sense of "correct" when let's say correcting the tickmarks in multiple choice questions. But when comparing an inventory to a checklist, "stimmt" sounds out of place, just as "correct" would sound out of place in English I assume (but I'm not an English native speaker). It would somewhat work in the artificial situation of someone making a statement about an item in the inventory and asking for confirmation: "Wir haben Sonnencreme, oder?" ("we have sunscreen, don't we?") - "stimmt" ("correct") – EpicBroccoli Dec 18 '21 at 11:07
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    @EpicBroccoli I'd say "stimmt" sounds weird only when talking about a single item being there or not. But if it's about a specific number of items being correct (like "15 sunscreens"), "stimmt" sounds perfectly fine to me. – MaxD Dec 18 '21 at 17:16
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    @EpicBroccoli: It's true that it might not be used when checking a list of things, but "Stimmt" (or also "Trifft zu.") would be absolutely fitting translations for "Check." when it's about going through a list of criteria that need to be fulfilled for some conclusion to be valid. Indeed, the question specifically mentions a packing list, but neither the OP nor other readers of the answer could guess to which extent the German translations for "Check." are context-specific, hence pointing out where "Check." would be translated differently than for a packing list makes sense. – O. R. Mapper Dec 19 '21 at 21:56
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The first one that comes to my mind would be erledigt

Duden reference

AndB
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    I am German and I can confirm this. The best German word would be "erledigt" indeed. – a-python-script Dec 17 '21 at 01:48
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    I am German too and I can also confirm: "erledigt" is the best words. It's more usable for activities though, like "clean my room: done" -> "mein Zimmer saubermachen: erledigt" – jobrfr Dec 17 '21 at 09:24
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Common expressions for this are angekreuzt und abgehakt.

Martin Peters
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    These are the right terms to describe the checked state of an item on a list ("Was ist auf seiner Liste denn noch offen? Eigentlich nur Proviant. Reisepass und Impfnachweis sind angekreuzt."), but as a response to going through a checklist as in "Gehen wir noch mal die Liste durch. Reisepass? Angekreuzt. Impfnachweis? Angekreuzt", which is what the OP is asking for? That strikes me as highly unlikely. – Schmuddi Dec 16 '21 at 11:59
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To me, the most natural spoken version is to switch between various variations of “ja”.

Schlafsack? Japp.
Sonnencreme? Ok.
Handsprit? Yip.
Zahnbürste? MmHmm.

The word “ja” itself for some reason doesn't work as well, when I hear that I'd rather expect some “not applicable” explanation like

Zelt? – Ja... also, wir hatten eigentlich vor die Wanderhütte zu benutzen. Sprich, Zelt brauchen wir garnicht.

In writing, one would of course just use the ✓ symbol just like in English.

leftaroundabout
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    Agreed. I guess a lot depends on the pronounciation and intonation of the 'Ja'. I'd hardly ever choose a 'Jaaa', but with a very short 'a' - or one of the versions you mention here as an affirmative. With a long vowel it arguably is often used to express scepticism in regard to the item being mentioned. – planetmaker Dec 17 '21 at 13:58
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    Definitely. There's a lot of sublety. “jjhA” with a short but accented “A” works fine here, “jjaaa...” would indicate you're not really sure, “ja-ha” expresses exasperation (“of course I packed this”), “jjJAAaa” says “oh, that's a good idea, I hadn't though of that”, etc. etc.. – leftaroundabout Dec 17 '21 at 14:06
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    Jepp. Jo. Jenau esu. – mirabilos Dec 17 '21 at 17:26
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I fully agree with planetmaker's answer. I just want to add, that there are also regional differences. I live in Austria, and the most common version here is

passt

All other predicates mentioned by planetmaker are also in use in Austria.

But there is an interesting issue with the German words for the noun check (or checkmark):

The check-symbol (the sign ✓) is called »Hakerl« in Austria (and also in Bavaria as I believe) but »Häkchen« in non-Bavarian Germany.
(I guess it could be »Häkli« in Switzerland and parts of Germany with Alemannic dialects, but I don't know much about Alemannic dialects and colloquial speech, so there is a high chance that my guess is not correct.)

But we in Austria have a severe problem with Hakerl/Häkchen: The word »Hakerl« is clearly considered to be a part of colloquial language. It doesn't belong to Austrian Standard German or any other standard variation of German language. This is why »Hakerl« is not listed in Duden, DWDS, Wiktionary or any other notable dictionary about Standard German. So, in Austria we use »Hakerl« a lot in spoken language, but we avoid it in written texts because it feels wrong to write colloquial terms.

Exceptions exist but are rare:

Leitbild Ried 2020: "Können viele Hakerl setzen"
AMS: Mann vergisst Hakerl auf Formular und verliert 600 Euro
Das Konto „ElonMuskoffici“ hatte ein offizielles Verifizierungs-Hakerl, ...
Was das neue Hakerl bei WhatsApp bedeutet
Kreuzerl, Hakerl, Stricherl - So wählen Sie richtig

But »Häkchen« sounds so unfriendly and so terribly German ("German" not in the sense of »belonging to the German language« but in the sense of: »belonging to the country Germany«) and therefore we avoid this word too. I think it is because of the uncomfortable combination of k and ch. We never use this word in spoken language and we use it in written texts only if we can't find a better solution. The word Hakerl is much easier to pronounce for Austrian people because we are used to the Austrian diminutive -erl which, on the other hand, seems to be hard to pronounce for some people from Germany.

So, when ever we want to use the German equivalent for the English noun »check« in written texts we get in troubles: Shall we use the very common and familiar but colloquial version »Hakerl« which looks unprofessional in written texts? Or shall we use the inconvenient and offish version »Häkchen« that sounds so terribly Non-Austrian? Both Versions are bad and so many Austrian authors often spend a lot of time thinking over other possibilities.

I'm pretty sure that also in all the editorial offices responsible for the above quotes, there were lengthy discussions before publication about whether or not it was okay to write the word »Hackerl«.

A digression about German diminutive suffixes:

German standard German has only two diminutive suffixes: -chen and -lein (Kindchen, Kindlein; Hündchen, Hündlein). But in Regions where Bavarian or Alemannic dialects are spoken you can hear also some other diminutive suffixes. One of them is -erl (Kinderl, Hunderl) in the region where Bavarian dialects are spoken (which is roughly Bavaria and Austria) which even exists in many words that are part of Austrian standard German (but - as far as I know - do not belong to German standard German or Swiss standard German):

The advantage of having an additional option is, that now you can avoid awkward sound-combinations that would appear with the other suffixes. The combination of k followed by ch is such a awkward combination. And this is why in Austria (and probably also in Bavaria) we use other diminutive forms than in other regions. Some of them belong to Austrian Standard German, but most of them belong to colloquial speech:

  • Päckchen → Packerl
  • Glöckchen → Glockerl, Glöckerl
  • Fleckchen → Fleckerl
  • Röckchen → Rockerl
  • Wölckchen → Wolkerl
  • Säckchen → Sackerl
  • Schlückchen → Schluckerl
  • Häkchen → Hakerl
  • etc.

None of the other diminutive suffixes is part of any of the three standards of German language, they exist only in colloquial speech and in dialects. Some of them are:

  • -ele and -ale: Sackele (Sack), Hundale (Hund)
  • -li: Säckli (Sack), Hündli (Hund), Röösli (Rose), Chügeli (Kugel)
  • -le: Häusle (Haus), Kindle (Kind)
Hubert Schölnast
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    In my experience, people in Germany would call it "Haken", not "Häkchen", and this also turns up in the phrase "Haken setzen". – Polygnome Dec 16 '21 at 09:35
  • Interesting. Which publication do I need to consult if I want to learn more about the claim that the preference of e.g. Packerl instead of Päckchen in colloquial Austrian German is due to a perceived awkwardness of the combination /k/+/ç/, a combination that doesn't appear to be perceived as awkward at all by speakers of other German varieties? From a phonological perspective, /kç/ is not awkward at all – in fact, homorganic clusters are preferred in many languages. Do Austrian speakers consider /ts/ and /pf/ as "awkward" as well? If not, what's the difference between these and /kç/? – Schmuddi Dec 16 '21 at 12:10
  • @Schmuddi: This is not a topic for comments on an answer. Post your question here: https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/ask – Hubert Schölnast Dec 16 '21 at 12:31
  • @Polygnome: My first association with »Haken« is something like this: A B C which is hook in English. But we're not talking about hooks but about checkmarks. – Hubert Schölnast Dec 16 '21 at 12:38
  • "Passt" is not applicable in this situation. "A: Schlafsack? B: Passt. A: Sonnencreme B: Passt. etc." does not preserve the meaning of OP's example, does it? – idmean Dec 16 '21 at 12:53
  • @HubertSchölnast Interesting. When I'm in a situation where I'm going through a checklist or where acknowledgement is important, the first things that comes to mind is a checkmark for me. I wouldn't think about DIY homemaking at that point, nor would I think about "Schweinehaken". "Einen Haken an etwas machen" is such an established phrase for "Getting something done", while the diminutive form "Häkchen" sound to me like subverting the authority of the checkmark. – Polygnome Dec 16 '21 at 16:59
  • @Polygnome There are contexts in which passt passt (scnr ;-)) Imagine the scene in Michael Lewis' Big Short when the hedge fund manager Michael Burry compares his son's checklist of positive signs for Asperger's to his own personality: "Awkward social interaction" - Check. "No peer relationships" - Check. "Difficulty reading someone's emotions" - Check etc. It's essentially a match. It's not abhaken of a to-do list; it's a trait that fits. Or you muse about a love interest: "Positive vibes - Check. Intelligent - Check." Etc. – Peter - Reinstate Monica Dec 16 '21 at 22:05
  • @Peter-ReinstateMonica Yes, but the checkmark / haken fits perfectly in that situations. That is exactly the analogy that is at work there? – Polygnome Dec 17 '21 at 15:26
  • @Polygnome It's not even an analogy -- he may actually put check marks in a questionnaire. But what would you say here? Abgehakt works only so-so, that's better for to-do lists. And by the way, I think I meant to directly answer to idmean's comment, not yours! – Peter - Reinstate Monica Dec 17 '21 at 16:39
  • @idmean I think I directed my long comment about how passt is a good fit in some contexts accidentally to polygnome but wanted to friendly contradict your "not applicable" apodictum ;-). – Peter - Reinstate Monica Dec 17 '21 at 16:41
  • @idmean: Yes, »passt« is the preferred respond for most people in Austria. Why shouldn't it be applicable? – Hubert Schölnast Dec 18 '21 at 06:41
  • @Polygnome: When we talk about checklists, the first thing that comes in my mind is of corse checkmark which is either Hakerl or Häkchen. But when I hear the word Haken my first association is not a checklist with checkmarks, but a hook. Without further context I would interpret »einen Haken an etwas machen« as attaching a hook on something to be able to hang it up. – Hubert Schölnast Dec 18 '21 at 06:46
  • @HubertSchölnast Es gibt sicher Situationen, in denen man "Check" als "passt" übersetzten kann. Aber in der Situation, die in der Frage präsentiert wird, passt es eben nicht. Wenn du einen Koffer gepackt hast und dich jemand eine Liste durchfragt: "[Hast du den] Schlafsack [eingepackt]?" antwortest du dann "Passt"? – idmean Dec 18 '21 at 07:25
  • @idman: Ja. Das Wort »passt« hat dabei nicht die Bedeutung »stimmt überein« sondern »ist in Ordnung« oder eben »abgehakt«. Eine andere typische Situation, in der das Wort sehr oft verwendet wird: Der Vorarbeiter erstattet einen Bericht beim Polier: »Du Chef, ich wollte dir nur sagen, dass wir die Baustelle jetzt fertig abgesichert haben.« Antwort des Poliers: »Passt.« Siehe auch https://www.oesterreichisch.net/wort/7791/passen – Hubert Schölnast Dec 18 '21 at 07:41
  • @idman Ergänzung: Das was du da in eckigen Klammern dazugedichtet hast, ist ja nur deine persönliche Interpretation. Der OP hat ja auch nicht gemeint "Did you pack the sleeping bag?" Denn da würde "check" ja auch nicht passen. Da steht nur "sleeping bag?" – Hubert Schölnast Dec 18 '21 at 07:44
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    @Idman Was, wenn die Situation ist wie "Liste Dinge, die man in den Urlaub mitnimmt, auf?". Dann ist 'Passt' eine perfekte Antwort. – planetmaker Dec 18 '21 at 09:14
  • @HubertSchölnast Mit deinem Beispiel auf Deutsch bin ich natürlich einverstanden, es hat aber nichts mit der Frage zu tun. Auf "Hey boss, I just wanted to let you know that we've finished securing the construction site." wird der Polier nicht mit "Check" antworten. Es kann ja nicht der Sinn eines Q&A sein, in den Antworten die Verwendung eines Worts in einem ganz anderen Kontext zu diskutieren. – idmean Dec 18 '21 at 09:18
  • @planetmaker Das ist aber nicht die Frage: "Let's say you're packing your bags for a camping trip with friends, and once you're finished you take a quick look at your packing list, in American English one might say". Mit "in this situation" habe ich die vom OP beschriebene Situation gemeint. Ich halte die Antwort in diesem Kontext für unpassend. – idmean Dec 18 '21 at 09:18
  • @HubertSchölnast "checkmark which is either Hakerl or Häkchen" No, its Haken, thats what I'm saying. "Häkchen" is diminutive and wouldn't be used in many regions of Germany for this. It might be southern/austrian variant, but this doesn't readily generalize. Its not a "Häkchen" in non-bavarian germany as you state. – Polygnome Dec 19 '21 at 09:18