{"id":93309,"date":"2023-06-27T07:37:54","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T11:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/false-friends-english-german\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T11:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T15:05:21","slug":"false-friends-english-german","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/false-friends-english-german\/","title":{"rendered":"19 German-English False Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever found your German friendship cut surprisingly short after you offer them a Gift?<\/em> Or perhaps you’ve wondered why people curse the Mist<\/em>\u00a0when they drop something.<\/p>\n

In German, Gift<\/em>\u00a0actually means “poison,” and Mist <\/em>means “crap.”\u00a0These sneaky words are called false friends<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In this post, I’ll teach you 19 common German-English false friends <\/strong>to help you avoid\u00a0embarrassing situations.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What Are German False Friends?<\/h2>\n

While a lot of\u00a0German compound nouns seem to at least try and lead us in the right direction, there are equally a Tonne<\/em> of German words that seem to be deliberately trying to lure you off the beaten path.<\/p>\n

These tricksters are what we call false friends<\/strong>\u2014words that appear to be English-German cognates<\/a>. But while these W\u00f6rter<\/em>\u00a0(words) may initially look the same as their English counterparts, they can actually end up having widely different meanings.<\/p>\n

This can naturally lead to sticky situations, where you may end up with an embarrassing Missverst\u00e4ndnis <\/em>(misunderstanding), or worse, end up in the wrong place entirely.<\/p>\n

A good example is the Rat<\/em> problem. If we go back to our reliance on compound words, you may be slightly bewildered to find a Rathaus<\/em> in most German districts and towns, or to have a loyal friend offering you some Rat<\/em> while at the dinner table. A medieval tradition of houses crawling with rats? A Bavarian tea-time delicacy? Don’t run for the hills screaming the plague yet.<\/p>\n

The word Rat<\/em> in German actually translates as “advice” or “council,” leading to the word Rathaus<\/em> meaning “town hall.” The actual word for a “rat” is the similar, but with a distinctive extra syllable, die Ratte<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So there we have an easily correctable example of a direct false cognate, but they certainly get more difficult to tackle as you learn more and more words. The toughest part with German false friends, as opposed to other languages like French or Spanish, is that they will often be written exactly the same as their English counterparts. This can make them all the more important to commit to memory, especially when the definitions are closer than our previous rodent example.<\/p>\n

A good technique when learning the German word is to totally disconnect it from its seeming English counterpart. You can do this by saying the word in an exaggerated German accent<\/a> when pronouncing it. So instead of saying “Rat,” try saying “der Rah-tt,” with added emphasis on the ah<\/em> sound and the article der<\/em>\u00a0for good measure.<\/p>\n

1. Der Chef<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0chef
\nWhat it means: <\/strong>boss\/manager<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You might be tempted, after a good Currywurst,<\/em> to send your compliments to the Chef<\/em>. But this would instead send a well-down to the manager, rather than the person who actually cooked it for you.<\/p>\n

The actual word for a “chef” in German comes from the verb “to cook,” kochen<\/strong>.<\/em> So we end up with der Koch<\/em><\/strong>\/die K\u00f6chin.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Die Rente<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0rent
\nWhat it means:\u00a0<\/strong>pension<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These words both have to do with money, but only the English “rent” describes a form of paying out. The Germans are much more pleased to hear this word than we Anglos, as their Rente<\/em> refers to what elderly citizens receive when they retire\u2014a pension. This is where the noun\u2014der<\/em>\u00a0Rentner<\/em><\/strong>\u2014comes from, a pensioner.<\/p>\n

The word to use with your landlord for “rent” is actually die Miete<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Das Lokal<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0local
\nWhat it means:\u00a0<\/strong>pub\/restaurant<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If somebody asks you where to find a Lokal<\/em><\/strong> in your town or city, you might want to point to yourself or any of the number of people surrounding you. However the questioner isn’t asking the arduous task of you to point out everyone that lives there, but rather asking for a pub or restaurant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The word to talk about a local person is der\u00a0<\/em>Einheimische<\/em><\/strong>\/<\/strong>die Einheimische<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(male and female, respectively).<\/p>\n

4. Das Gymnasium<\/em>\/Das Gym<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0gym
\nWhat it means: <\/strong>grammar school<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You may find it strange to hear that a lot of German youths spend a lot of their days in the Gymnasium<\/em><\/strong>. And nope, they’re not training those muscles, but rather their brains.<\/p>\n

Gymnasium<\/em> refers to one of the schooling options in the German tri-part schooling system, which splits off more academically gifted students from more practically skilled ones. The word Gymnasium<\/em> roughly translates therefore as “grammar school.”<\/p>\n

The real word for a “gym” in German is the clunky sounding das Fitnessstudio<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> Most Germans will simply say however, Ich gehe zum Sport<\/em><\/strong> (literally: “I am going to the sport”) as a way of expressing that they’re going to the gym.<\/p>\n

5. Die Hochschule<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0high school
\nWhat it means: <\/strong>college\/university<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The educational confusions continue with this one. The German tri-part school system leads most students off to a Hochschule<\/em><\/strong>, but American students go from high school to college.<\/p>\n

The German word Hochschule<\/em> is simply another word used to describe die Universit\u00e4t<\/em><\/strong> (college\/university).<\/p>\n

As we see in the Gymnasium <\/em>example, it is difficult to pinpoint the word “high school” or “secondary school” in German. More often, German speakers will refer to the specific type of school they are in, for example a Gymnasium <\/em>(a grammar school) or an Oberstufe<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(comprehensive school).<\/p>\n

You can, however, also use words like die Mittelschule<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>or die Sekundarschule<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>to describe the schools for the high school age range.<\/p>\n

6. Die Fabrik<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0fabric
\nWhat it means:\u00a0<\/strong>factory<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For Germans, a Fabrik<\/em><\/strong> is an industrial place of work. Whereas to us English speakers a piece of fabric sounds like it would be host to rather cramped working conditions. This is because a Fabrik<\/em> in German is one of those big grey things we call a “factory.”<\/p>\n

The real word for “fabric” in German is der Stoff<\/strong>.<\/em> (And das Stoffst\u00fcck<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0for a piece thereof.)<\/p>\n

7. Der See<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0sea
\nWhat it means:\u00a0<\/strong>tranquil lake<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Your trip to the nearest See<\/em><\/strong> with your German friends will still end up in water, but rather in the less salty kind. You see, the word der See<\/em>, in German refers to a tranquil lake, not the jolly seaside waves you might be expecting.<\/p>\n

However this is where the false friends get really tricky, as when you change the word to its feminine form, die See<\/strong><\/em>, you are now referring to the ocean. This is one example where knowing those genders<\/a> and cases would come in handy. To talk about the seaside, stick with das Meer<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

8. spenden<\/em><\/h2>\n

What it looks like:<\/strong>\u00a0to spend
\nWhat it means: <\/strong>to donate<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Careful what you do with your money here, as if you use the verb spenden<\/em>, you won’t get much in return other than an empty Brieftasche<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(wallet) and an unexpected warm-fuzzy feeling.<\/p>\n

This is because in German the verb spenden<\/em><\/strong> is related to the noun die Spende<\/strong><\/em>, meaning “donation.” So if you’re going shopping and really want those shiny new Lederhose<\/em>, be sure to use the separable verb ausgeben<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(to spend) to use your Geld<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(money) more wisely.<\/p>\n

The differences can seem quite subtle at first, so it’s best to learn these vocabulary in context! For example, FluentU teaches you German vocabulary through plenty of example videos and sentences.<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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