Veröffentlicht von False friends are words which look similar in two languages, like ‘actual’ and ‘aktuell’. Unfortunately, they have totally different meanings. You can translate ‘actual’ in English as ‘tatsächlich’ in German. ‘Aktuell’ can be translated as ‘current’, or ‘present’:
They thought the machines cost $20,000, but the actual cost is $25,000.
In my present job I’m involved in a lot of negotiations.
Here are some more common false friends you should be aware of:
| German word | English translation | English false friend | What it means |
| Bekommen | get | become | werden |
| eventuell | possible, potential | eventually | schließlich |
| Fabrik | factory | fabric | Stoff |
| Konkurrenz | competition | concurrence | Übereinstimmung |
| Konsequent | consistent | consequent | folgend |
| übersehen | overlook | oversee | beaufsichtigen |
Ensure that you understand the differences if you want to avoid some embarrassing miscommunications!
Useful language:
- similar – ähnlich
- unfortunately – leider
- different – unterschiedlich
- meanings – Bedeutungen
- translate – übersetzen
- negotiations – Verhandlungen
- be aware of – wahrnehmen
- ensure – sicherstellen
- avoid – vermeiden
- embarrassing – peinlich
Practice the useful language here on the free English for Business vocabulary trainer
Do you want to know more about Business English? Contact me: gabrielle@efbtraining.de