In part 1 we looked at some of those German words which are identical to English words. Now let’s look at those that are almost identical but still instantly recognisable.
Here is my ‘not bad’ alphabet:
|
der Alkohol |
alcohol |
|
die Bluse |
blouse |
|
der Charakter |
character |
|
das Debüt |
debut |
|
der Elefant |
elephant |
|
der Fisch |
fish |
|
das Glas |
glass |
|
das Haus |
house |
|
das Insekt |
insect |
|
der Joghurt |
yoghurt |
|
der Kaffee |
coffee |
|
die Lippe |
lip |
|
der Markt |
market |
|
die Nummer |
number |
|
die Oper |
opera |
|
der Präsident |
president |
|
die Qualifikation |
qualification |
|
die Rezeption |
reception |
|
der Sommer |
summer |
|
die Tomate |
tomato |
|
der Untergrund |
underground |
|
der Vegetarier |
vegetarian |
|
der Wurm |
worm |
|
das Xylofon |
xylophone |
|
das Ypsilon |
upsilon |
|
die Zigarette |
cigarette |
As you can see, often it’s only a change of one letter, or one letter added or taken away, which makes them still easy to understand.
In part 3 we will look at the ‘ugly’ words, or the false friends as they are usually called. They are the ones to watch out for!
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