From buying new hard drives to cleaning out garages, humans are often preoccupied with storing information as well as objects and materials.
The verb etwas lagern essentially means "to store something." We use it to talk about putting physical objects in an external location for a longer period of time.
Aber keine Sorge, so lang haben die Kisten ja nicht gelagert.
But don't worry, the boxes haven't been stored here that long.
Caption 48, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt
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Können sie jetzt Spreewaldgurken drin lagern.
Now they can store Spreewald pickles in there.
Caption 47, heute-show 30 Jahre Mauerfall: So feiern die Deutschen ihre Einheit
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We always use the verb speichern when we talk about saving files, websites, emails, and other digital items:
Verwendet also das Lesezeichen-Menü, wenn ihr ein Video zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt sehen möchtet oder einfach euren ganzen Lieblingscontent speichern wollt.
So use the bookmark menu if you'd like to watch a video at a later time or just want to save all your favorite content.
Captions 31-33, Yabla-Anleitung: Lieblingsvideos markieren
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Mailbox... speichern.
Mailbox... save.
Caption 4, Nicos Weg: Reklamation
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At the same time, speichern is often used to describe the storage of substances within a particular body, like CO2 and water in plants:
In den tropischen Regenwäldern am Amazonas ist zum Beispiel so viel CO-zwei gespeichert, wie wir weltweit innerhalb von fünfzehn Jahren freisetzen.
In the tropical rainforests along the Amazon River, for example, as much CO-two is stored as we release worldwide within fifteen years.
Captions 16-17, OroVerde: Regenwald schützen CO2, Regenwald und Klimaschutz
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Das Vierzigfache ihres Eigengewichts können sie aufnehmen und speichern.
They can absorb and store forty times their own weight.
Caption 16, Wunderkräfte aus der Windel: Wasserspeicher für Blumenerde
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Two related nouns to know are der Vorrat and der Speicher:
Der fertige Honig dient der aktuellen Ernährung des Bienenvolkes, der Aufzucht der Brut und als Vorrat für den Winter.
The finished honey is used as day-to-day nutrition for the bee colony, for raising the brood, and as a supply for the winter.
Captions 31-32, Für Tierfreunde Aktion Tier: Die Honigbiene
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Die Alpenseen sind nicht die einzigen großen Wasserspeicher in den Bergen.
The alpine lakes are not the only large water reservoirs in the mountains.
Caption 29, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten
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Another important verb is verstauen which means to stow something or put it away. If you fly to or within Germany, you will most certainly hear this, as it is often used when referring to carry-on luggage.
Further Learning
Search for speichern and lagern on Yabla German to see more examples of these verbs in use.