In part 1 and part 2 we looked at some of those lovely German words which are identical or almost identical to English words. Now, in part 3 we will look at those words which look identical but have a different meaning – our ‘false friends’.
False friends alphabet:
die Art |
type |
bald |
soon |
der Chef |
boss |
die Dose |
tin, can |
eventuell |
possibly |
die Fabrik |
factory |
das Gift |
poison |
das Handy |
mobile phone |
irritieren |
to confuse |
die Jalousien |
Venetian blinds |
die Konkurrenz |
(business) competition |
die List |
trick |
der Mist |
dung, manure |
die Notiz |
note |
ordinär |
vulgar |
die Pension |
guest house |
die Quote |
proportion |
die Rate |
installment |
der Smoking |
dinner jacket |
der Unternehmer |
entrepeneur (not an undertaker) |
vor |
in front of/ before (not for) |
der Wall |
embankment |
das Zimmer |
room (not a Zimmer frame) |
You can see, it could be embarassing if you used the wrong word. I remember a student telling me many years ago that he went to stay with a German family. When he arrived he gave them a little present and said “Hier ist ein Gift für Sie!” At the time he could not understand why his host looked so worried.
Do you have a favourite ‘false friend’? Did you ever use a wrong word? Please tell us.