The list
Aktuell to wer: eighteen false friends, A to Z
Tap a row to hear the German word, then the word you actually want. The noun’s gender (whether it takes der, die or das, the three German words for “the”) is shown with every noun.
Verbs that trip up English speakers
Werden, bekommen, wollen, ausgeben
werdento becomeikh VAIR-de LAY-re-rin · “I’m going to be a teacher.”Why: werden means to become. With a job, German leaves out ein (a): Lehrerin, not eine Lehrerin.
IchIwerdebecomeLehrerin.teacher
bekommento getveer be-KO-men ain BAY-bee · “We’re having a baby.”Why: bekommen means to receive. Germans also use it for babies, presents and colds.
WirwebekommengeteinaBaby.baby
ich werdeI willikh VAIR-de MOR-gen AN-roo-fen · “I’ll call tomorrow.”Why: The future is werden + the infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb) at the end. In speech, Germans often just use the present: Ich rufe morgen an.
IchIwerdewillmorgentomorrowanrufen.call
ich willI wantikh VIL nakh HAU-ze · “I want to go home.”Why: will comes from wollen, to want. It sounds direct; for a polite request, say ich möchte (I would like).
IchIwillwantnach Hause.to home
ausgebento spendikh GAY-be tsoo FEEL GELT AUS · “I spend too much money.”Why: ausgeben is a separable verb: its first part (aus) splits off and goes to the end of the sentence. spenden means to donate.
IchIgebegivezu vieltoo muchGeldmoneyaus.out
alsoso, thereforees RAYG-net, AL-zo BLAI-ben veer tsoo HAU-ze · “It’s raining, so we’re staying at home.”Why: also means so. The verb comes straight after it (bleiben wir), because German puts the verb second. English “also” is auch.
Esitregnet,rainsalsosobleibenstaywirwezu Hause.at home
True friends: six sound changes
Ten → zehn, apple → Apfel, day → Tag
German and English grew from the same parent language. Over centuries, some German consonants shifted in regular ways, so once you know the swap you can recognise hundreds of words. A consonant is a letter sound made by blocking the air, such as t, p or k (as opposed to vowels like a, e, o).
| English sound | German sound | Examples (tap to hear) |
|---|---|---|
| t | z | |
| p | pf / f | |
| d | t | |
| th | d | |
| k | ch | |
| v / f | b |
Many everyday words need no swap at all: das Haus (house), die Hand (hand), der Finger (finger), das Wasser (water), der Name (name). Remember that every German noun is written with a capital letter.
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