From false friends to tricky word order, learning German can feel like navigating an obstacle course sometimes.
But don’t worry: we’re here to take you through some of the most common pitfalls for English speakers. Steer clear of these, and your German friends are bound to be very impressive (very impressed) at your incredible progress in learning their notoriously difficult language.
- Keep your friends close, but your false friends closer!
It’s easy to get caught out by false friends in the German language. Sometimes a word sounds similar to something in English, so we deduce it must also mean something similar. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, which can lead to a whole world of confusion.
Below are some examples of common false friends to watch out for:
I will vs I will
The first person present tense form of want is misleading for English speakers – the first person conjugation will may appear to be the same as the English verb ‘will’, just with a slightly different pronunciation.
READ ALSO: 5 beginner German language mistakes to avoid
In actual fact, I will means ‘I want’, whereas it is I will which means ‘I will’. It’s a bit of a muddle, but nothing some memorisation can’t fix!
I will = I will
I want = I want
The poison
This one is particularly important. In English, a gift is a present which we very kindly receive or give, but this is known as a gift in German. The poison, which in actual fact means poison or toxin, is something we definitely don’t want to give to any of our closest friends on their birthdays. (Though for those of us whose cake-baking skills are particularly bad, it has been known to happen.)
The poison = poison
The gift = present/gift
Mixing up your gifts could be the difference between a delicious birthday cake and a terrible stomach ache. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Philipp von Ditfurth
Wer
Particularly when asking a question, the word wer is sure to come up at some point. To English speakers, this is yet another misleading piece of vocab – sounding like the English ‘where’, it actually means ‘who’.
Wer = who
Wo = where
Where are you going?
Where are you going?
Who is Julian?
Who is Julian?
The above are just a few examples of some false friends in the German language – they can cause confusion but just keeping an eye out for them will help! See the website link below for a longer list of false friends in German:
https://germangirlinamerica.com/german-false-friends-list/
- To have or being? Time to toss a coin!
German grammar is probably one of the trickiest parts of learning the language. We know that when using the perfect past tense we need to combine an auxiliary (helping) verb with the past participle (e.g. eaten). Deciding whether to use to have or be as the auxiliary verb can be confusing, though.
Simply speaking, to have goes with transitive verbs, while be is used with intransitive verbs.
Important to remember, is that intransitive verbs are those associated with movement from A to B, for example to run (‘to run’), as well a change of state or condition, for example to fall asleep (‘to fall asleep’).
I’m sorry I missed your call – I fell asleep!
Sorry that I missed your call – I fell asleep!
Ensure your little ones fall asleep on time by reminding them of the difference between German transitive and intransitive verbs. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Patrick Pleul
As with anything, there are exceptions. Despite not conveying movement or changing state specifically, the three verbs stay (‘to stay’), will (‘to become’) and be (‘to be’) are also intransitive and must also take be as their auxiliary.
He stayed with us for a long time.
He stayed with us for a long time.
Some more detailed guidelines can be found here.
- Speaking like Yoda from Star Wars…
With your standard I like coffee (‘I like coffee’) sentence, word order follows the same rules as English – Subject-Verb-Object.
I like coffee.
SUBJECT – VERB – OBJECT
I like coffee.
SUBJECT – VERB – OBJECT
However, as you start to develop complexity in your sentences, word order rules begin to change too. It’s important to remember that the verb is pretty important when it comes to constructing German sentences, so focus on that. As demonstrated below, certain conjunctions and time phrases shake things up a little…
Coordinating conjunctions such as and but and or have no effect on word order. (That’s something to be grateful for… right?)
READ ALSO: Ten German abbreviations that will have you texting like a true native
However, subordinating conjunctions – which generally add more information to the main clause of a sentence, like how or what or why – cause the verb (or first verb if there are more than one) to move to the end of the clause.
Some examples of subordinating conjunctions include weil (because), that (that) and although (although). Think of these subordinating conjunctions like footballers that kick the ball (in this case, the verb) right across the pitch.
KAPOW! Lob your verbs to the end of your subordinate clauses like a second-league footballer trying to score from the halfway line. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sven Hoppe
I do not like the winter, but I mag Christmas.
I don’t like winter, but I do like Christmas.
I do not like the winter, weil he too cold for me is.
I don’t like winter, because it’s too cold for me.
The verb is also sent to the end in other linguistic scenarios, such as when using a modal verb like can, should, could, or will:
I will the milk kaufen.
I will buy the milk.
Or in a relative clause:
The milk we use for the recipe to need.
The milk, which we need for the recipe.
The recipe we have tonight Cook will.
The recipe, which we will cook tonight.
As in the example above, sometimes a relative clause will have more than one verb. In this case, it is the first verb which will appear at the end.
READ ALSO: Eight unique words and phrases that tell us something about Germany
Inversionin which the verb is brought in front of the subject into a VERB – SUBJECT – OBJECT order, is also a regular feature of German sentences. Inversions are caused by temporal adverbs or prepositional phrases:
Today I’m going to the cinema.
TIME – VERB – SUBJECT – OBJECT
Hopefully this gives you a brief overview of some word order particularities in German. This is by no means exhaustive, so watch out for other changes in word order, such as when using adverbs.
- Like this? No, like that!
We know that the German how can mean various things, including ‘like’ as a conjunction. Don’t fall into the trap, however, of translating the English phrase ‘like this/that’ literally, to ‘wie das’.
It doesn’t work this way in German, so if you want to talk about something being ‘like that’ or doing something in a particular way, use so.
Bossing around your German friends is much more fun if you don’t mix up your likes and your so’s. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Gollnow
you have to so make!
You have to do it like that!
It looks so out.
It looks like that.
The above German language tips are not at all exhaustive and just cover a few areas of difficulty that most of us learners struggle with from time to time. It’ll come together with practice, so keep going! And don’t get discouraged if your Yoda impression a little time takes.