Some false-friends may seem cute and even seem funny...um...for everyone but the person who made the mistake. German is my second language, and even though I have been speaking German for over 25 years, I still find myself misusing words on occassion.
Some false-friends are almost famous. Bringing up memories of school, like maybe this one?
“I become a hamburger.”
Unfortunately, "false-friends" become less funny the better one speaks and the more they lead to more serious misunderstandings.
How bad can it really be?
Let's take a look at these 6 examples.
Irritated vs. irritierend
irritated = angenervt
Here is the scenario: You just started a job. You are still in the trial period. Let's say you have been working there for about 2 months. Your boss comes and asks you how things are going and how you like your job so far.
You answer, "At first I was a little irritated, but I am starting to understand things better."
German: "Am Anfang war ich etwas angenervt, aber so langsam verstehe was ich machen muss."
This poor person, unknowingly, will probably not survive the trial period.
Curious vs. kurios
Curious = neugierig
Here's the scenario: You are at a colleague's home and you have taken your
3-year-old daughter with you. Your colleague tells you that she thinks your daughter is "so cute and curious". You think she just said that your daughter is kurios (strange). A potential friendship may have just crashed. You just let a false-friend make your life more difficult.
note vs. notieren
note = bemerken
Here's the scenario: You are in a meeting and you are the one taking the minutes (Protokol schreiben). A colleague, who is also your boss, says, "Note how our boss is late every time we have a meeting." You just understood, "Bitte notieren, wie unser Boss zu jedem Meeting spät kommt." You might think this is strange, but she is your boss - so you do what she says. So"Our boss is late to every meeting" is included in the minutes, sent to everyone who attended the meeting and - bam - you just let a false-friend make your life more difficult.
Isolation vs Isolierung
isolation = vereinsamt
Here's the scenario: You are working on a project and you notice that the pipes are not properly insulated so you call the people in charge and request that they be isolated. Three weeks later you discover that the pipes are still not insulated (isoliert) but they are separated by a wall from the rest of the room. You just let a false-friend make your life more difficult.
Sensible vs. sensibel
sensible = rational
Here's the scenario: You are talking to a colleague about a situation at work that bothered you. You tell your colleague that you think the problem is that you too sensible. They hear you saying that es daran liegt, dass du zu rational bist. This could definitely lead to a misunderstanding. You just let a false-friend ruin your communication.
Must not vs. nicht müssen
must not = darfst nicht
Here is the scenario:
You ask a colleague, "Are you coming with us this evening to the afterwork party? You must not if you are too tired."
You just told them - "du darfst nicht mitkommen, wenn du zu müde bist"
Another case of how a false-friend can ruin communication!
How often do you think these misunderstandings go unnoticed? How often have you noticed communication simply breaking down? Some false-friends are trickier than others. While one false-friend gives us a good laugh ("I think I spider!"), others can cause problems.
What is your experience with "false-friends"? Leave your story in the comments!
For more false-friends and other vocab insights - join my "One Word a Day" Xing Group at https://www.xing.com/communities/groups/one-word-a-day
for more "false-friends", idioms and general vocabulary.
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