‘False Friends’ in German
Wednesday, 28th January 2009
There are ‘false friends’ in many languages, but especially those which share close roots with English, such as German, for example.
A ‘false friend’ is word in a foreign language which is spelled very similarly to an English word, but that confusingly has a totally different meaning!
Below is a selection of common ‘false friends’ found in German - useful when it comes to avoiding making embarrassing mistakes.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| aktuell (adjective) | current |
| also (adverb) | thus |
| Ambulanz (noun) | casualty department |
| Art (noun) | type |
| bekommen (verb) | to get |
| Billion (noun) | trillion |
| brav | good, well-behaved |
| Direktion (noun) | management |
| Dose (noun) | can/tin |
| eventuell (adverb) | possibly/actually |
| Fabrik (noun) | factory |
| Formular (noun) | form |
| Fotograf (noun) | photographer |
| Gift (noun) | poison |
| Hose (noun) | trousers |
| Kaution (noun) | deposit |
| Kollege (noun) | colleague |
| Kraft (noun) | strength |
| Lyrik (noun) | poetry |
| Meinung (noun) | opinion |
| Prozess (noun) | trial |
| Rat (noun) | advice |
| sensible (adjective) | sensitive |
| spenden (verb) | donate |
| Wand (noun) | wall |
Tags: german, tailor-made, vocabulary, false friends
Posted by Laura Harrison under Vocabulary,
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