Quite often when students come to Berlitz Edinburgh they make a lot of mistakes that are due to the structure or vocabulary in their native language.  This can be a big problem.  For example, German speakers may call women in general, ‘wives’, or talk about how long their course is rather than how long they have been there.  In this series of articles, I’m going to talk about the most important mistakes that I’ve come across in my teaching career.  Part 1 of common German mistakes begins with false friends.

I would like to point out that I’m doing this in sections because it allows you to comment at the  bottom for each section and add your own thoughts on common German mistakes.  Please tell me what words have been a problem in your experience!  Let’s make the ultimate list!

10 wife (from frau)

I think this comes from the very polite form ‘frau’ in German.  But calling all women ‘wives’ is certainly not polite in English!  I suppose you can use ‘madam’ just like you would use ’sir’.  However, you have to be careful when you use it.  Some women don’t like being called ‘madam’ especially if they are young.  That’s just my experience though.

- Hello, please let me introduce you to my wife.

- Would you like a seat, madam?

9 invite

In English this simply means to ask someone to come to an event or gathering.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will pay for them!!  To offer to pay for something, use the expression, ‘it’s on me’.  Another good expression for the end of a meal or something is, ‘Put your wallet away!  I insist on paying!’

I would like to invite you to come to my wedding. / Shall I invite John to the party?

Come to the pub!  The first round is on me!

8 Thank you (from danke)

‘Danke‘ in German can mean ‘No thank you’.  In English, if somebody offers you some wine and you say ‘thank you’, then you are going to get some wine!

- Would you like some more? - Yes, thank you.  It’s delicious!  I can’t help myself!

-Would you like some more? - No, thank you.  I’m full!

7 Read / Write

I used to think that all of my students were authors because when I would ask them what they did last night they would sometimes say, ‘I wrote a book’.  This is very impressive!  But unfortunately it’s not true.

I read some of my book last night.

Ian Rankin (an author) writes good books.

6 Handy

This would be higher up in the list except for the fact that it doesn’t cause serious misunderstandings.  But English people still need to ask sometimes what a ‘handy’ is.  By the way, ‘handy’ means useful in English.  Have a look at my examples:

Sorry, that’s my mobile ringing in the class.  I’ll switch it off.

Thank you Steven!  That’s a handy tip!

5 In former times (from in damaliger Zeit)

OK, maybe this one isn’t really a false friend in the traditional sense because it doesn’t look similar in German.  But it’s my article and I want it in there.  And I want it at number 5 as well because it often confuses me even though I know what my students want to say.  I translate ‘In former times I played tennis’ to ‘I used to play tennis’.  ‘In former times’ alaways makes me think of the Victorian era for some reason.  I hope my examples will help you to understand what I mean:

In former times, people travelled by horse power.

I used to run a lot when I was younger.  Now I am too lazy.

4 actual (from aktuell)

We’re getting to the big false friends now.  In German aktuell = present or current.  ‘Actual’ in English can mean this but it is mostly used to mean ‘existing in fact’ or ‘the real truth’.  However, the most important word that you should learn is ‘actually’.  This is a very versatile word; you will hear it in conversation all of the time.  In most cases, it has a similar meaning to ‘in fact’.  It is also used to express something that may be surprising or a contrast.

The company’s current situation is not good (at the moment).

It was a nice meal that we had the other day.  Actually, I didn’t think much of the soup of the day.

3 become (from bekommen)

‘Bekommen’ in German is to obtain or get.  This is very different to the English ‘become’ which means to change to a different state.  Look at the following examples:

I got a new laptop yesterday. / Did you get some milk today? / I need to get some beers for tonight.

If you continue doing that, she will become angry.

2 make (from maken)

Make is similar to maken and I wish it wasn’t!  Of course, make and do in English are incredibly versatile and there are many expressions with each.  However, I think it’s useful to think of make as ‘creating something’ and do as simply an action.  This isn’t always true but it’s useful.

My mother made me a cake for my birthday / I’ve made some coffee / Look what Sarah made!  Isn’t it beautiful!

I’ve done my homework / I do a lot of exercise / I will try and do it before tomorrow.

1 must not (from muss nicht)

Let me tell you a story about this one.  I remember a student who showed me some of their business emails.  They had done a survey for Germany and had sent the survey form to the English office so that they could use the same layout.  However, in the accompanying email they wrote something like, ‘you must not use it’.  Of course, in German ‘muss nicht’ means ‘don’t have to’ but in English, ‘must not’ is a very strong expression to say that it is absolutely forbidden!  The reply from the English department?  -”OK, we’ll do it ourselves then”.  Take a look at my examples:

You must not smoke in the building!

Hey, don’t worry about it.  You don’t have to go to the party if you don’t want to!

Again, please comment below and let me know any stories or experiences that you’ve had, false friends that you know about or even your own top ten!  Hope you enjoyed part 1!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 8:27 pm and is filed under English Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.