
What are some other common German-English false friends
False friends when learning German: What are some other common German-English false friends
Some common German-English false friends include:
- Gift (German) means poison, not a present like in English.
- Chef (German) means boss, not a cook as in English.
- Handy (German) means mobile phone, not handy/practical.
- Billion (German) means trillion in English.
- Mist (German) means manure or crap, not mist or fog.
- Rock (German) means skirt, not a rock stone.
- Rat (German) means advice, not a rat the animal.
- Gymnasium (German) means a type of secondary school, not a gym.
- Presumably (English) is often confused with präsent (German) meaning present.
- Also (German) means “therefore” or “thus,” not “also” in English.
Many of these false friends stem from similar spellings or pronunciations but have different meanings, which can lead to confusion or amusing misunderstandings if the false friend is taken at face value in the other language.