Earlier this year I wrote an article about false friends in English and German and well, I thought I'd write a second part to it because there are a lot of words that people mix up because they look so similar
der Strand ≠ strand
▪ strand = die Strähne
▪ der Strand = beach
das Lokal ≠ local
▪ local = Einheimische/r
▪ das Lokal = pub, restaurant
die Chance ≠ chance
▪ chance = der Zufall
▪ die Chance = opportunity
eventuell ≠ eventually
▪ eventually = schließlich, irgendwann
▪ eventuell = possible, maybe
die Fahrt ≠ fart
▪ fart = der Furz
▪ die Fahrt = trip, journey, ride (e.g. on a roller coaster)
die Hochschule ≠ high school
▪ high school = das Gymnasium, die Realschule, die Mittelschule, die Gesamtschule or die Förderschule/Sonderschule depending on which type of German secondary school you need in the specific context
▪ die Hochschule = university, college
dezent ≠ decent
▪ decent = anständig
▪ dezent = discreet, restrained
die Note ≠ note
▪ note = die Notiz
▪ die Note = grade
famos ≠ famous
▪ famous = berühmt
▪ famos = splendid
fatal ≠ fatal
▪ fatal = tödlich
▪ fatal = disastrous
die Limone ≠ lemon
▪ lemon = die Zitrone
▪ die Limone = lime
massiv ≠ massive
▪ massive = riesig
▪ massiv = solid
And some words that Germans use in a different context even though the words are actually English words:
▪ der Oldtimer = a vintage car
▪ das Public Viewing = watching a football/soccer game on a big screen with a huge crowd of other fans
▪ das Handy = mobile phone / smartphone
▪ der Beamer = a projector
▪ das Shooting = a photo shoot, the English "shooting" is "die Schießerei" in German
▪ der Smoking = tuxedo, suit
German words or words of German origin that are used in English as well:
▪ kindergarten = der Kindergarten
▪ poltergeist = der Poltergeist
▪ angst = die Angst
▪ doppelganger = der Doppelgänger / die Doppelgängerin
▪ pretzel = die Bretzel
▪ kitsch = der Kitsch
▪ to plunder = plündern
▪ bratwurst = die Bratwurst
▪ sauerkraut = das Sauerkraut
▪ schnitzel = das Schnitzel
▪ stein = der Maßkrug or just die Maß (mostly the one at Oktoberfest referring to a one liter mug of beer), der Stein in German, however, means "stone"
And one fun fact: If you translate Johnny Depp's last name to German, his name would be Johnny Idiot 🙊
I hope you enjoyed the article and feel free to let me know, if German words are used in your language as well and if they have a different meaning then.
I wish you all a nice day and happy learning for those who are studying German 💕
Part I of this article:
My other articles:
Cover Pic:
