What are German-English false friends?
False friends are words that look almost the same in both languages but mean different things. The key office cases: Chef, Handy, bekommen, eventuell, aktuell, sensibel, Gift, Rente and Note.
- German Chef = English boss — an English chef is a cook.
- Bekommen = get — English become means "to turn into".
- Eventuell = possibly — English eventually means "in the end".
A2 · Idioms & Collocations · 10 minGerman-English false friends, defused brick by brick.
A structured ten-slide lesson for A2 learners. Hear the classic Chef mistake in context, meet the thirteen most dangerous German-English false friends in three groups, then practise them across five interactive drills before a final six-question quiz. The whole arc is under ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
- CEFR levelA2 · Elementary
- Time to completeAbout 10 minutes
- SkillsVocabulary, Listening, Writing, Speaking
- Bricks10 blocks
01 / 06
What false friends are — and why the office makes them dangerous
A false friend is a pair of words that look or sound almost the same in two languages but mean different things. German and English are closely related, so the list of such pairs is unusually long — and that is exactly why they feel so harmless. Your brain spots a familiar shape and quietly imports the German meaning into your English sentence. With Chef, Handy or bekommen, that import fails. In everyday small talk the result is usually just funny. At work it can cost you: write "my chef will call you" in a customer email and your customer expects a cook; say "I become the report tomorrow" in a meeting and nobody knows what you mean. At A2 level you do not need to memorise long lists. You need the thirteen most dangerous words in this lesson — they cover most of the embarrassing moments in meetings, emails and office small talk.
02 / 06
People and office things: Chef, Handy, Fabrik, Prospekt
Start with the classic: Chef. In English a chef is only a professional cook. The person you report to is your boss, your manager, or more formally your line manager — so "my chef is very nice" tells your colleagues that your cook is friendly. Next, Handy. It sounds English but it is a German coinage; the device is a mobile phone in British English and a cell phone in American English. The real English adjective handy means useful or practical: "This app is really handy." Third, Fabrik: English fabric is cloth or material — the building where things are made is a factory or a plant. Fourth, Prospekt: an English prospect is an outlook or a potential customer, which is why sales teams talk about prospects. The printed booklet you send customers is a brochure or a leaflet. Remember the direction: name the German meaning first, then choose the right English word for it — never copy the shape.
03 / 06
Tricky adjectives and adverbs: aktuell, eventuell, sensibel, konsequent
These four words do the most damage in meetings, because they flip the meaning of a whole sentence. German aktuell means current or currently: the current version, we are currently testing. English actually means "in fact" and often introduces a polite correction: "Actually, the meeting is at three." Eventuell is even more dangerous. It means possibly or maybe — but English eventually means "in the end, at some point"; it never means maybe. "We will eventually sign the contract" promises a signature; the German eventuell keeps it open. Transfer this one wrongly and a maybe becomes a commitment. Sensibel translates as sensitive — easily hurt, or delicate, as in sensitive data — while English sensible means reasonable, which is a compliment. Finally, konsequent is consistent in English; English consequent is a rare, formal word meaning "following as a result". Learn these pairs as opposites, not as translations.
04 / 06
Verbs and nouns that betray you: bekommen, spenden, Gift, Rente, Note
Bekommen is the most famous trap of all. It means get or receive: "I got your email", "Can I get a coffee, please?" English become means to turn into something: "She became our new manager." So "I become a coffee" literally announces that you are turning into a drink. Spenden means donate — "we donated 500 euros" — while English spend is what you do with money or with time. With the noun Gift, things get serious: the German word means poison in English, while an English gift is a present, so "a little gift for you" is a kind gesture, not a threat. Rente translates as pension; English rent is the money you pay for your flat. And the Note on a school report is a mark in British English or a grade in American English — an English note is a short written message. Five words, five small disasters avoided.
05 / 06
The classic sentences in meetings and emails — and how to repair them
False friends rarely travel alone — they hide inside fixed German thinking patterns. Three sentences come up in German offices again and again. First: "We see us next week." That is the German goodbye translated word for word; in English you say "See you next week." Second: "I become a coffee" — the correct version is "I'll get a coffee", or in a café, "Can I get a coffee, please?" Third: "My chef is in a meeting", when what you mean is "My boss is in a meeting." The repair strategy is always the same: translate the meaning, not the words. Ask yourself what you want to say — and how an English native speaker would say it. When in doubt, choose the simpler word: get instead of become, maybe instead of eventually, boss instead of anything that sounds like a kitchen. At A2 level, the simple word is almost always the safe word.
06 / 06
True friends, false friends — and how to defuse the traps for good
The good news, to finish: most German-English word pairs are true friends. Hand is hand, winter is winter, arm is arm — the two languages share thousands of words that mean exactly what you expect. You do not need to distrust every familiar word, only a short list of known traps. Here is how to defuse them for good: learn every false friend as a pair with its correction — Chef → boss, bekommen → get, eventuell → possibly. Say the correct sentences out loud, because your mouth remembers better than your eyes. Then test yourself again after a few days; that is exactly what the quiz at the end of this lesson is for. Once the thirteen words in this lesson feel automatic, you are protected against the most common slips — and the lessons Make vs Do and Around the Office will build the matching office vocabulary on top.