How do false friends differ between English and German compared to English and French
False friends between English and German and between English and French differ primarily due to their linguistic roots, history, and mutual influences.
English-German false friends often arise from their common West Germanic origins, shared vocabulary borrowed from Latin, French, and other languages, and sometimes shifts in meaning over time. English and German words may look or sound similar but have significantly different meanings or partial overlaps, sometimes even opposite meanings. Additionally, German has pseudo-anglicisms—words invented by Germans that appear English but have different meanings in English. Examples include German “Gift” meaning poison, not present, and “bekommen” meaning to get, not become. These differences can create amusing or confusing misunderstandings for learners. 1, 2, 3
English-French false friends (faux amis) tend to reflect the long and close historical contact between the two languages, with English borrowing many words from French. Approximately 45% of English words may have French origins. False friends here often involve false cognates (identical spelling but different meanings) and semi-false cognates (similar but not identical). Examples include French “bras” meaning arm, not bra, and “location” meaning rent, not location. These false friends often cause confusion in translation and everyday communication. 4, 5, 6
Key Differences:
- English-German false friends often stem from shared Germanic roots and semantic shifts or pseudo-anglicisms.
- English-French false friends largely arise from extensive lexical borrowing and historical contact, with many true cognates but also misleading look-alikes and differing meanings.
- English-German false friends tend to involve more drastic meaning shifts or opposites; English-French false friends include many loanwords with changed or narrowed meanings in one language.
In summary, while both language pairs have false friends causing confusion, English-German false friends often result from deep linguistic divergence and evolution within related roots, whereas English-French false friends come from long-term lexical borrowing and semantic shifts within Romance-Germanic language contact contexts.