# to log in to a computer



## Fudgie

If you were talking about logging into a computer would you use, einloggen or anmelden?


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## DanielB

Anmelden is more German but mean more to register
Einloggen is an Anglizismus

sich ins Internet einloggen to log in to the internet


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## berndf

Both verbs are used, "sich anmelden" und "sich einloggen". N.B.: both verbs are reflexive.


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## brian

In case it's of any interest to English-learners, in AE (or at least in my vernacular) we say, "_to log *on*to a computer/the internet_." But we speak of a "_log*in* screen_." 

On second thought, you can "log/sign *in*to" your email, a program, and some other things. I'm not really sure when you use "into" and when you use "onto"....


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## berndf

In my experience (30 years of IT) “logon” and “login” are completely interchangeable. I agree "to log onto a compute" sounds as a phrase more natural as well as "to log into my mail". But I would never "log onto/into the internet", I would "connect to the internet" and then "log into a site", if the site requires authentication.


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## Schultzy

We usually sign into our email accounts and go on to the internet in my part of the world.  All very confusing.


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## berndf

Schultzy said:


> We usually sign into our email accounts and *go on to the internet* in my part of the world.


I would understand this to mean that, being already connected to the internet, you start a web browser and start *using* the Internet because I would assume that the speaker (like most non-professionals and increasingly also professionals) does not distinguish between the Internet and the World Wide Web*.
______________________________
_*In the early days of the WWW this made me furious but now I have made my peace with it and occasionally use such language myself._


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## Sepia

DanielB said:


> Anmelden is more German but mean more to register
> Einloggen is an Anglizismus
> 
> sich ins Internet einloggen to log in to the internet


 
Ich sage fast nie "anmelden" in dem Zusammenhang, nur "einloggen".

Außerdem wurde z.B. das Wort "Logbuch" schon längst benutzt, bevor es Computernetzwerke gab. Ich denke, dass das "log" in beiden vom gleichen Wort kommt. 

("Anglizismus"? Ich wohne in der Nähe von Angeln. Habe kein Problem damit.)


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## Welshie

German versions of Gnome and KDE (linux) use sich anmelden.


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## Robocop

Es gibt zahlreiche Begriffe (Wörter) im Bereich der Informatik, die sich nur schlecht eindeutschen lassen, und die man folglich besser im Original verwendet. Aber "_einloggen_" gehört ganz sicher nicht dazu. Mir sind solche Wörter ein Graus.


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## DanielB

Sepia said:


> Ich sage fast nie "anmelden" in dem Zusammenhang, nur "einloggen".
> 
> Außerdem wurde z.B. das Wort "Logbuch" schon längst benutzt, bevor es Computernetzwerke gab. Ich denke, dass das "log" in beiden vom gleichen Wort kommt.
> 
> ("Anglizismus"? Ich wohne in der Nähe von Angeln. Habe kein Problem damit.)



Hallo Sepia, ja einloggen bezeichne ich als Anglizsmus <-, -men> m LING anglicism

Duden-online schreibt das *ein|log|gen* <sw. V.; hat> [1: engl. to log in, zu: to log = ins Logbuch  ...

Das Wort Logbuch, kommt wahrscheinlich von dem Wort Log, das ist oder war ein Gerät zum Messen der Geschwindigkeit eines Schiffes und kommt auch aus dem Englisch, aber bereits im 18. Jahrhundert.

Schönes We


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## Sidjanga

Fudgie said:


> If you were talking about logging into a computer would you use, einloggen or anmelden?


When registering somewhere *for the first* *time* where you have to choose a user name, password, and maybe a few other things (like, for instance, with this forum) at least I myself always use *anmelden*. After that, I prefer _einloggen_.

_Ich habe mich vor zweieinhalb Jahren hier im Forum *angemeldet*, und mich seitdem sehr oft *eingeloggt*._

Depending on the situation and the computer you're thinking of, a similar distinction might make sense.


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## brian

Sigiana, you made the distinction clear in English, too. We would never say, "I logged into/onto the forum two and a half years ago" when referring to the first time. People would respond, "Great. So?" 

As the second word of your sentence implies, we use "register," or even "sign *up*" (but not "sign in" or "sign on") to mean "sich anmelden" in this case.

I know you know that (hence your using the word "register"); I just didn't want others to get the idea that English uses "log in" or "sign on" or whatever for both cases.


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## Sidjanga

Nevertheless, when starting Windows on a computer where a login screen appears, it says _Anmelden _in the German version (and you already need to have a user name and know the password at that stage)


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## brian

Right right, I just wanted to make the point that we do have a separate word for first-time "anmelden." I didn't mean that "anmelden"="register" and "einloggen"="log in" all the time. Sorry.


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## Sidjanga

brian8733 said:


> Right right, I just wanted to make the point that we do have a separate word for first-time "anmelden." I didn't mean that "anmelden"="register" and "einloggen"="log in" all the time. Sorry.


Oh, that's not what I meant. 

My comment was rather meant to complete - or to put into perspective - what I myself had said above  (in #12), i.e., although _anmelden _is the official term used with the Windows login-screen, I personally feel that sounds rather like an "ever-recurring first time", because _anmelden _- at least to my ears - sounds just like _to register_, and not so much like _to log in/on_.


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## brian

OH! Gotcha. 

Just for curiosity's sake, I checked what Gmail says:

in English: "Sign *in* *to* Gmail" (if you already have an account), and then below that (if you don't have an account), "Sign *up for* Gmail."

in German: "Melden Sie sich hier an" for the former, and "Melden Sie sich für Google Mail an" for the latter.

So, they are a little different (and the German doesn't use the word "Gmail," but simply "here" in the first sentence). In English you "sign *in to* Gmail" and "sign *up for* Gmail"; in German it's "sich *bei*(??) Gmail anmelden" and "sich *für* Gmail anmelden."

In other words, the two English versions are a bit more different from each other than the German equivalents, but the German ones are still different from each other insofar as the prepositions used for where one is signing in/up are different...


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## Robocop

I do *not* think *German *discriminates "register/sign up" and "log in/log on" as strictly as English. In both cases I myself use "anmelden" and so do a lot of others. Of course, you may see "registrieren" (for "register/sign up") as well.


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## brian

But would you agree that the thing/place you're registering/signing up for or logging into/onto requires a different preposition depending on the meaning of "anmelden"? In other words, referring to the Gmail example above, you register ("anmelden") *für* Gmail when you sign up, but you log (also "anmelden") *bei* (this was my guess) Gmail when you log in/on.


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## Robocop

If I told you on the phone, "Ich habe mich gerade bei Gmail angemeldet", you would not know if I have just signed up to Gmail or logged on to Gmail. Of course, in reality, I would use a wording that makes it clear or you would know from context which one applies.

Examples:
- If I tell you, "ich habe mich nach langem Überlegen jetzt endlich bei XYZ angemeldet", it is clear that I have registered with XYZ.
- If I tell you, "ich habe mich jetzt gerade bei XYZ angemeldet und kann dir gleich Auskunft geben", it is also clear that I have logged on to XYZ (service, etc.).


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## brian

Wow. Very interesting.


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## elroy

Like Robocop, I use _sich anmelden_ for both.  And I agree that _sich *bei* X anmelden_ can refer to either, because of how vague the preposition _bei_ is.


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## Sidjanga

Robocop said:


> - If I tell you, "ich habe mich jetzt gerade bei XYZ angemeldet und kann dir gleich Auskunft geben", it is also clear that I have logged on to XYZ (service, etc.).


To my ears, _anmelden _still sounds quite like _to register_ (and I, too, don't think I am alone with that).

In any case, I have thought it over again and think that many people (myself included) _would _use _einloggen _if they were "made" to choose beteween _anmelden _und _einloggen _for the mere act of just logging in somewhere for the umpteenth time where they registered (long) before.

But from my experience I'd say that most people (at least of the ones I know) actually avoid using either of those verbs, but rather say something like

_Ich *schau *mal eben in meine E-Mails (*rein* _[= coll. for _hinein_]_). 
Ich lese gerade meine E-Mails. / Ich *bin *gerade bei Yahoo *drin*.
Er *ist *gerade im Internet. / *Kann *ich mal eben bei dir *ins *Internet?
Ich *schau *noch mal kurz *ins *Forum. / Moment bitte, ich *bin *gerade noch *im *Forum.
*Kann *ich mal eben *an *deinen Computer? Was muss ich da eingeben, um *rein *zu *kommen*?_

Oder etwas ähnliches.


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## Robocop

Sigianga said:


> But from my experience I'd say that most people (at least of the ones I know) actually avoid using either of those verbs, but rather say something like
> _Ich *schau *mal eben in meine E-Mails (*rein* _[= coll. for _hinein_]_).
> Ich lese gerade meine E-Mails. / Ich *bin *gerade bei Yahoo *drin*.
> Er *ist *gerade im Internet. / *Kann *ich mal eben bei dir *ins *Internet?
> Ich *schau *noch mal kurz *ins *Forum. / Moment bitte, ich *bin *gerade noch *im *Forum.
> *Kann *ich mal eben *an *deinen Computer? Was muss ich da eingeben, um *rein *zu *kommen*?_
> 
> Oder etwas änliches.


This is beside the point. We have *not* been talking about what you could or would say when going/being on the internet or when checking the mail. The thread is about the German equivalents of "register/sign on" and "log in/log on".


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## brian

I think the last one is definitely relevant.. "reinkommen" to mean "log into."


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## Robocop

brian8733 said:


> I think the last one is definitely relevant.. "reinkommen" to mean "log into."


I am afraid it is not. Firstly, "reinkommen" is colloquial language and, secondly, it is *not *an *equivalent* translation of "log in/log on". It may *mean *the same in effect, depending on context, but it is certainly not an equivalent expression. And you could not use it, for example, in a documentation giving instructions on how to use a service/product/etc.


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## brian

Yes but the fact is that we use "log in" both formally and informally, that is, "log in" is also our colloquial word. So even if "reinkommen" cannot be used in formal documentation, it's important to know that in other contexts (e.g. informal ones), it is the equivalent of "log in."

It's rare that there is ever a 1-to-1 correspondence between words/expressions in two different languages. They are almost never full equivalents. The trick is to know in which contexts they _are_ equivalents. Right?


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## Robocop

brian8733 said:


> Yes but the fact is that we use "log in" both formally and informally, that is, "log in" is also our colloquial word.


In my opinion, formal language cannot be informal at the same time. 

By the way, "reinkommen" alone does not come near "to log in/log on" at all.


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## brian

Robocop said:


> In my opinion, formal language cannot be informal at the same time.



Why not? Not every concept has both a formal and an informal way of being expressed. We informally use the words "tree" and "sleep" all the time... but I cannot think of a formal version for them. Or, if there does exist a formal version, it often sounds out of place or stiff, for example using "domicile" to refer to a "house," or the medical/biological word to refer to a body part (i.e. things reserved for legal/medical texts, etc.).

My point was that "log in" in English is like "tree" or "sleep"--it is used in every context, formal or informal. In that regard, it's good to know that a word like "reinkommen" _can_ mean "log in" in the right (informal) context. But that doesn't mean that "reinkommen" can always mean "log in" (e.g. in formal language it cannot).



			
				Robocop said:
			
		

> By the way, "reinkommen" alone does not come near "to log in/log on" at all.



I obviously wasn't implying that the two words are complete equivalents (hence my statement about 1-to-1 correspondences). My impression rather was that "reinkommen" _can_ mean "log in" in particular contexts, e.g. _Was muss ich da eingeben, um rein zu kommen?_

I would use "log in" in English in that sentence.


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## elroy

I agree with Robocop.  I would not consider "reinkommen" and "log in" equivalents (in any context).

"Log in" specifically refers to gaining access by entering a user name and/or password.
"Reinkommen" is more general and simply refers to gaining access.

In other words, if there was, say, a forum, that you could gain access to by clicking a certain icon on a website (without entering a user name or password), you could use "reinkommen" in German but you wouldn't say "log in" in English.

In fact, Sigianga's whole point was that in German it is common to _refer _to the action of logging in using other verbs/constructions, without directly referring to "logging in."  I was actually going to say the same thing.

In Sigianga's sentence, "reinkommen" doesn't _mean_ "log in."  It means "gain access."  It's only the other part of the sentence ("Was muss ich da eingeben") that justifies an English translation using "log in," which is only _implied_ in the German sentence.


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## Sidjanga

elroy said:


> (...) In fact, Sigianga's whole point was that in German it is common to _refer _the action of logging in using other verbs/constructions, without directly referring to "logging in."  I was actually going to say the same thing.
> 
> In Sigianga's sentence, "reinkommen" doesn't _mean_ "log in."  It means "gain access."  It's only the other part of the sentence ("Was muss ich da eingeben") that justifies an English translation using "log in," which is only _implied_ in the German sentence.


Exactly. Thanks for clarifying this.

Those sentences were meant to be equivalents you'd use in a comparable situation.


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## Sidjanga

Today I happened to come across these sentences in the text I was translating:

_Your were *signed out* by a [XY] system administrator. Please *sign in* again later. Please contact your Customer Service Center (...) if you are *signed out* repeatedly._

I consulted another colleague and the team leader* about which terms best to choose (_anmelden/abmelden_ or _einloggen/ausloggen_).

We all agreed on that - at least in this case - it was definitely preferable to use _einloggen_ and _ausloggen _here, as _anmelden _and _abmelden _would be ambiguous and could well (or: would probably) be understood to mean _to register _and _to unsubscribe_(?), as well as on that _ein- _and_ ausloggen_ left behind the realms of mere computer jargon and became socially fully acceptable and valid technical terms quite some time ago already.
(they came up with that themselves, of their own account, before I told them that that was my impression, too).

In English, there is a very clear and unambiguous distinction between _to register_ and _to sign/log in_ (or _out_, respectively). 
This clear and unambiguous distinction doesn't exist in German, unless you use e_in- _and _ausloggen_, where appropriate.
At least I (and my colleagues) are not aware of any other "really" German verbs that could be used in order to achieve the same distinction otherwise. So their usage does make sense, and they are certainly more than (or simply: _not_) just "unnecessary anglicisms".

_____________
*at a rather big translation and software localisation agency


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