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The word batch has found its way into German production halls as the "cool" form of Charge. For a technical document I need the German plural of the word Batch. I would personally go for Batche, but the spellcheck only allows Batches. Duden et al. don't list the word batch at all (or I'm too blind to find it).

I can't use the real German word Charge because it would not be intuitive for the people reading the document.

What is the "correct" form?

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any reference about batch uses batches as plural, but I'm not able to find it in a lexicon. –  bummi Feb 7 '13 at 13:28
Good question. As an aside, I note that prescription medicines in Germany always include "Ch-Nr.: ABC123" in small print on the packaging, which is short for "Chargen-Nummer". –  Eugene Seidel Feb 7 '13 at 20:29
Could you give an example sentence in German? –  unor Feb 9 '13 at 4:32

3 Answers 3

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Final Edit: So as there is no entry for batch in duden yet, there would be no "correct" form. You are free to choose it on your own. In general I strongly recommend german words. But as it is a technical document, I guess, it is obvious to use the english word. And it's plural would be Batches. See the links mentioned in the comments below, for usage-style.

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Following the frequently used plural Patches of the English loanword Patch I also vote for Batches if the English word is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, I'd prefer a German word. Linguee shows, that there are some: linguee.com/english-german/search?source=auto&query=batches –  Deve Feb 7 '13 at 14:07
Please use Batches with a capital B –  Christian Graf Feb 8 '13 at 17:06

Batche sounds odd to me. Simply use the English plural: Batches. But with a capital B, please.
This is what the native speakers do: Not think of it as a problem and use an English word. And if necessary - its plural.
One may be happy about it or not.
Btw.: Neither of the terms Chargen, Batches or Lose sound cool to me. And be sure that there isn't any difference in meaning between Batch and Charge! (I know a special case in the production of semicondutor wafers where a Batch is different to a Charge)

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»Charge« is not a german word. It is french. And it is not used in IT.


Used as a noun its correct german translation (in the world of IT) is "Stapel". This comes from the times when computer-programs was encoded in batches (piles) of punchcards. And still the german term for "batch processing" is "Stapelverarbeitung".

I did understand, that you want to write about two (or more) small pieces of software that can be used to change (update) another piece of software that is usually bigger. In common speach we call the bigger piece of software that will be changed "the program" and the smaller change-makers are called "batches".

In German we call the big piece of software "das Programm" and the smaller change-makers are in german "die Updates" (singular: "das Update").

In a technical documentation that is written for technical experts or power-users you can also use the term "der Batch" with the plural "die Batches". That we use english grammar for bending this word comes from the fact, that it is not a part of "common german". It is just a technical term in some technical documentations that will not be translated since there is no well-fitting german word.

When you process a batch to change a system, then we say in German: "Einen Batch einspielen" (verbatim: "play in a batch").


In German we use the french word "Charge" to describe an amount of an product, that is made at one time. If you produce ketchup, then each barrel of ketchup is a separate Charge. We also have a real german word for this, which is "Los" or "Produktionslos", but this is used very rarely. And in IT neither german "Los" nor french "Charge" are used. We have "Programme" (singular: das Programm), Batches (der Batch) and Updates (das Update).

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Hmm. Could it be that you are partially confusing "batch" and "patch", especially in the last paragraph? It's "play in a patch"/"einen Patch einspielen". –  RoToRa Feb 8 '13 at 14:43
Yeah, I'm quite sure that RoToRa is right. The main issue of this question deals with Batches, Chargen or Losen but not with Pachtes (which are always meant to be software patches btw.) Furthermore Los' or 'Produktionslos in a common term in production. –  Christian Graf Feb 8 '13 at 17:04
Furthermore Los or Produktionslos is a common term in production. –  Christian Graf Feb 8 '13 at 17:22
Batch kann sowohl eine Software als auch ein Los, eine Charge etc. Wenn ich ein Blech Kekse backe, dann spreche ich von einem "Batch". Wenn's dann noch ein Blech wird, dann kommt "the 2nd batch". Ich würde auch für "Batches" stimmen und in der Fußnote erklären, daß Charge gemeint ist. –  Steffen Roller Feb 11 '13 at 17:58
@Steffen Verstehe ich es richtig? Du würdest im Deutschen ein zweiten 'Batch' Kekse backen? –  oliholz Feb 12 '13 at 15:41

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