False friends of German-learners

[josephtan1818]

hmmm, did anyone notice the different between Malays and indo? spelling & pronunciation are same but there's also false friend behind, example(indo's meaning in capital): *budak=kid/SLAVE, #butoh=male genitals/NEED, *berbual=to chat/TO TELL LIE, *comel=cute/pretty/SOMEONE WHO CAN'T KEEP THE SECRET, #koneksi=dick/CONNECTION

note:*cause misunderstanding in indonesia #cause misunderstanding in malaysia

[HesseJamez]

Need more?

dick=fat, kind = child, bank=bench, garage= carport, gymnasium=high school, butt=halibut, bad=bathroom, kitchen=jailhouse, fix= fast, smoking=tuxedo, tank=fuelbox, mist=crap, comfort = luxury, after=anus, listen= to register,

telefonzelle= telephone box (not a cellphone!)...some more with different spell but english sound; igel (eagle)=hedgehog, drei(dry)=3, vier (fear)=4, sechs (sex)=6, nein(nine)= no, ei (eye)= egg, Frieden (freedom)=peace

[snakelemon]

By the way, Ocean means Ozean in german

[railwayliner]

I was born in England but my parents moved to Germany when I was 5. Learning German, I made exactly the same mistakes. This language is really EXTREMELY hard to learn...

[TheTrueRandomness]

You're technically correct about see/lake meer/sea.

However, in the way you say it

"Wir wollen in DER See schwimmen",

it acutually does man "sea/ocean".

"Wir wollen in dem See schwimmen " or "Wir wollen im See schwimmen" (last one is the preferd way to say it), THEN it's talking about the lake.

"Die See" (yeah, female) actually means "the sea".

So "In der See" means "In the sea".

and "In dem See" means "In the lake".

Go figure ;-)

[TheTrueRandomness]

Please ignore the typos ;-) Should have read through it again before clicking "post".

Also: It's "die Fabrik", not "der Fabrik".

[HesseJamez]

@TheTrueRandomness 'lol* I love our german language, esp. if nouns change their article in different modes.

So "der See" (male)= the lake "die See (female, but no plural!!) = the ocean the plural (of the lakes) was "die Seen", the other one has no plural mode, but you could also say "die Ozeane" instead, not to be cofused.

Unfortunately "die" becomes "der" in dativ mode, so if it's "in der See", the ocean is ment.

[riffology]

I'm Filipino, and the Tagalog (our language) for factory is pagawaan or pabrika. And pabrika is a lot closer to "fabrik." As in, you know, to fabricate or to create. It got me thinking where the heck we got that word.

[NederSaks]

Bremerhaven is at the "Nordsee", aber the "Ammersee" is just a lake, let's blame the French for that.

German is very easy for me as a Dutch btw., Platt-German even more easy.

But though funny is that the Dutch are the only one that can say the G, like Ggggggggh. The Germans say it like a GK, also all others..

[guyfromsinope]

Yay, I scored well!! :) but thats probably because I'm german :D very nice explanations by the way, I'm somehow glad to see that english folks have as much trouble learning german as I do learning english... is that a sign of a bad charackter?!

[Raith1337]

also laut der meisten Leute soll Deutsch eine extrem schwere Sprache sein. Irgendwie bin ich dadurch ziemlich stolz darauf, dass ich diese Sprache als Deutscher natürlich perfekt beherrsche :D

[albionguard]

It's DIE Fabrik (as people note below) and 'Meer' is pronounced like 'mehr'.

Anyway, viel Glueck with your studies - I'm glad someone in NZ is still learning German, it seems to have died out at my old uni, Otago.

[MiGoLaNdMaNtA619]

is she obsessed wif Germany? :)

[glittzermaus18]

When ppl get confused with "See=lake" cuz they think its ocean...well not everone says "Meer" when they talked about the ocean...some say "Ozean"....

but anyway I liked the vid...^^ great job

[dturner1987]

Hate to be a pain, but if someone asked if I could swim in "der See" that would mean the sea. Der See=lake but the question would be "Moechtest du in der See schwimmen" which is dative of die See, which is the sea. And for those who think that would be "die See" fem. akk. you are wrong because you are swimming within the body of the sea, and not TO it...

[cjente]

Lets take Questions:

--> Where? = Wo?

--> Who = Wer?

or verbs:

--> 'will' is not 'wollen (ich will)' [which equals 'want to']

--> 'handy' does not mean 'Handy' [cell phone] (Germans do think it is English since they pronounce it like this)

--> 'public viewing' is not the thing that is connected to a funeral, but e.g. watching football on the street with a good crowd of (cheering and beer drinking!) people.

--> 'crisps' are called 'chips'

[StarOnTheWater]

"See" s pronounced See like in bed or head with a kiwi accent not like "say". Der See = a lake; Die See = the sea

[Annodomino2007]

Der Fabrik? Es heißt DIE Fabrik...

(Ich hoffe, ich bin nicht schon der Tausendste, der das schreibt...)

[StarOnTheWater]

vllt im Dativ? :b

[Annodomino2007]

Ja, da schon... dann also im Video "Du liest in einer deutschen Zeitschrift etwas über 'der Fabrik'"?^^

[blackpanther1966]

DER Fabrik gibt`s nun wirklich nicht, es heisst immer noch DIE Fabrik

[SteveyStrange]

sie sagt ja du liest in der zeitung etwas von der fabrik ... wäre ja falsch wenn sie sagen würde von die fabrik ;)

[provinzpony]

but swedisch is kinda difficult, i'm from germany :D

[ProblemWarning]

German is kinda easy, I'm from sweden :D

[DerCrossi]

Wenn ich die See seh', brauch' ich kein Meer mehr ;)

[bocciafan]

Ich habe Deutsch gelernt fuer 3.5 Jahren jetzt, und ich hasse falsche Freunde! Das war ein sehr gutes Film. :)

[lana1991]

but schließlich is not used to say when one will come. schließlich is most times used for the past like "Es vergingen mehrere Stunden, bis er schließlich kam." But you say "Ich komme vielleicht später" to warn (;) )someone that u may be late, but WILL come :D

[klickfilm]

I sea...äh, sii..

itse diffikult wis se längwitsch^^

[lana1991]

:D *sowas auch immer mach*

[oOTeetanteOo]

Oh and I remember a joke that was in my English book. (You can see a man, sitting at a table in a restaurant. He asks the waiter:"When do I become a steak? And the waiter answeres:"I hope never sir" ;)

[oOTeetanteOo]

I guess you know that there is a german verb "bekommen" that means "to get". Well, but it sounds a bit like "become" ;)A really funny thing happened when our class went on the graduation trip to London. We were in the post office and a guy bought stamps. His friend who wasn't too good at the english language and also wanted to buy stamps said :"I become the same" to the man in the post office *lol* He translated the german phrase "Ich bekomme das selbe" really baaad ;)

[rewboss]

Ah, the wonderful false friend. You could fill a book with them... aktuell = current, latest Keks = biscuit, cookie Bisquit = spongecake Geranium = cranesbill Fernsehprogramm = TV schedule Kasse = checkout, cash desk Limonade = soft drink (not just lemonade) Limone = lime Kittchen = prison (colloquial) konsequent = consistent ...and so on and so on, ad infinitum.

[missverstaendnis101]

Once again, the rewboss takes the cake! There seem to be so many when you list them like that...

[rewboss]

I've just remembered something, but be warned: this comment is PG rated.

It happened when my (German) wife first met my parents. We were talking, and my wife was doing well in English. Until she wanted to say: "Ich sah einen Igel in der Garage wanken."

She avoided one false friend (Igel = hedgehog), but fell prey to the next, extremely embarrassing, false friend (wanken = to waddle).

The worst thing is, I can't get the image out of my brain.

[itekisan]

With what would you mix up "Keks"?

Oh, and Geranium is merely the Latin name, in German it is "die Geranie"!

[rewboss]

"Keks" sounds similar to "cakes".

Regarding "Geranium", there's a lot of confusion, because English speakers, when they say "geranium", actually mean "pelargonium" (German "Pelargonie"); the German "Geranium" or "Geranie" (or "Storchschnabel") is best translated as "cranesbill".

This is uppermost in my mind at the moment because we're planning our garden, and this confusion threatened to endanger our marital bliss.

[baublebob]

Keks is slang for trousers here in the UK, maybe elsewhere too?

[rewboss]

"Keks" for "trousers", I believe, is confined to north-east England.

I once made the mistake of playing I Spy with a Geordie. He spied something beginning with T P K K. After a good ten minutes of fruitless guessing, we gave up. He pointed to a nearby washing-line and said: "Two pairs of kinky keks."

[classicDomeyre79]

I so got the last one :) 1 outta 4 :( Great video

[paisleyduck]

I love this! It has gotten me thinking!

I only knew Gift and See....in fact Gift=poison was my first falsch Freund experience, at least while learning German. :)

[42317]

I am deeply honored and moved by your mentioning me. ^_^

[missverstaendnis101]

Haha! You're welcome, you have interesting and insightful comments :)

[86Charter]

A very common mistake of German students learning English is the similarity of spelling and pronounciation of "become / bekommen".

"bekommen" doesn't mean "become".

bekommen = get in English

become = werden in German.

So if you come across a German pupil who's looking forward to his birthday and says something like "I become a bike for birthday!", don't be confused. ;-)

I really like your vlog, because it shows us in a mirror, how queer our language sometimes is!

Greetings from Germany

[missverstaendnis101]

Yeah and likewise with German learners, 'Ich will' means 'I want to' not 'I will'. That's a tricky one.

[xOREGx]

Another German/English false friend would be "become" vs. "bekommen".

... On the other hand - "ein falscher Freund" (a false friend) is sometimes refered to be a ... *clearing my throught* ... well, see for yourself on

de.*wikipedia.*org/wiki/Falsch­er_Freund_(Begriffsklärung)

[xOREGx]

"throat", not "throught" ... D'oh!

[RabTheBea]

another one might be become/receive - werden/bekommen.. can't think of anything else ^^

i really like that idea!

[tavin15]

Fabrik is female, so "die Fabrik"

PS: die See heißt auch Meer

[missverstaendnis101]

Oh you are right. Oops! And thanks. My excuse is that it was 6.30!

[tavin15]

oh, thank as well I should wait to the very end before commenting.

I'm sure I make a bunch of mistakes in my videos

[nicPA9]

another false friend could be "must not" and "nicht müssen" because "must not" means "don't do that!" and "nicht müssen" means "need not".

[XanderLaVelleHarris]

Aww.... the false friends...really mean these words. I know some others.. I'll collect them and post em to here afterwards ;)