German and English are closely related and have many words in common. And the bad news? German and English are closely related and have many words in common.

Any English-speaker learning German should be aware of this fact. But sometimes things are not what they seem to be. Among the many words the two languages have in common lurk the so-called “false friends.” Linguistic false friends can be just as dangerous as the human variety. These treacherous words pretend to be something they aren’t. They can lead to embarrassment, or if you’re lucky, just laughter.

False friends, more accurately known as “false cognates,” are particularly prevalent in the two Germanic languages English and German. Because the two languages are such close relatives, they have a lot of words that look and sound alike or very similar. The innocent variety includes word pairs such as: begin/beginnen, house/Haus, garden/Garten, brown/braun, father/Vater, and summer/Sommer. There are many of these genuine cognates, and any language learner should use them to advantage.

The genuine cognates can be just as helpful for a German learning English as for an American learning German. But the false ones can also be a hidden danger going both ways. (There are many German books warning of such dangers in learning English.) Whether they are called “confusing words,” “false friends,” “words to watch out for,” or anything else, false cognates are something a language-learner must always be aware of. It’s too easy to fall into the trap.

Some German “False Friends”
DEUTSCH	ENGLISH	Correct German Term
bald	soon	bald = kahl
Billion	trillion	(US) billion = Milliarde
Dom	cathedral	dome = Kuppel
Gift	poison	gift, present = Geschenk
konsequent	consistent(ly)	consequently = folglich
Menü	today’s special (at a restaurant)	menu = Speisekarte
Präservativ	condom	preservative = Konservierungsmittel
Puff	bordello	puff = Hauch/Zug
Slip	briefs, underwear	slip = Unterkleid slip (of foot) = Fehltritt
winken	to wave	to wink = blinzern, zwinkern

So, just what are we talking about, actually (aktuell)? Eventually (eventuell), we have to be brave (brav) and face the problem (Problem).