thumbnail

German False Friends

False friends are words of different languages that look or sound similar, but have significantly different meanings. Can you guess (or do you know) what these German false friends mean in English?
Genders are shown alongside nouns
This list is by no means exhaustive
German words are in alphabetical order, not including noun genders
Quiz by JackintheBox
Rate:
Last updated: March 30, 2022
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedNovember 28, 2019
Times taken76
Average score56.0%
Report this quizReport
9:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 50 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
German word
English meaning
aktuell
current, recent, up-to-date
die Art
kind, species, nature
bekommen
to get, receive
bald
soon
die Billion
trillion
der Brand
fire
brav
good, honest, well-behaved
das Benzin
petrol
der Brief
letter
die Dose
tin, can
das Etikett
label
eventuell
possible, perhaps
die Fabrik
factory
fast
almost
Fotograf
photographer
das Genie
genius
das Gift
poison, venom
das Gymnasium
grammar/high/secondary school
hell
light, bright
das Handy
mobile phone
der Herd
cooker, stove
die Hose
trousers
der Hut
hat
die Kaution
bail, deposit
das Kissen
cushion, pillow
German word
English meaning
die Kraft
strength, power
die List
trick, ruse
der Lohn
wage, reward
die Mappe
folder, briefcase, schoolbag
die Mode
fashion
der Oldtimer
vintage/veteran/classic car
pathetisch
emotional, impassioned, pompous
prägnant
concise
das Präservativ
condom
der Rat
advice, solution, council
die Rente
pension
der Rock
skirt, kilt
der Roman
novel
der See
lake
sensibel
sensitive
der Sinn
sense, feeling, mind, meaning
der Smoking
dinner jacket, tuxedo
das Stadium
stage, phase
das Tier
animal
toll
great
die Wand
wall
das Warenhaus
department store
will
want
die Wimper
eyelash
winken
to wave
4 Comments
+2
Level 77
Nov 28, 2019
Can you also accept "light" for "hell"? Die sonne ist hell means the sun is bright, but das bier ist hell means the beer is light in colour.
+1
Level 80
Nov 28, 2019
Oh, of course! I had forgotten about the 'light' sense for 'hell', e.g. 'hellbraun'. Thanks
+1
Level 46
Aug 5, 2021
Can you accept "type" for art? I spent a few minutes tying to type type in to no avail
+1
Level 80
Aug 6, 2021
'tying to type type in to' 😁 (I added 'type' by the way)