Depending on the meaning, the English verb “to save” can have different translations in German:

– “retten”: This word means “to rescue” or “to recover”: “Der Feuerwehrmann rettet die Katze aus dem Baum.” – “The firefighter is saving the cat from the tree.”

– “sparen”: This word is used to express saving money, time, energy, space or costs/expenses, etc.: “Er spart sehr viel Geld.” – “He’s saving a lot of money.”

– “speichern”: This word expresses saving one’s work or files on a computer: “Du musst deine Dokumente immer speichern!” – “You always have to save your documents.”

– “bewahren”: This word means “to keep”, “to retain” or “to preserve”: “Wir müssen die Tiere vor dem Aussterben bewahren.” – “We have to save the animals from extinction.”

– “schützen”: This word means to “protect”: “Gott schütze die Königin.” – “God save the queen.”

– “halten”: This one is used in soccer/football: “Der Torwart hat den Ball gehalten.” – “The goalkeeper saved the ball.”