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Christina Lazell
news@thelocal.de
learning german
Four words that tell
Share this article us something about
German culture
Like Yoda you must sound. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Jens Kalaene
People in Germany
German is a notoriously challenging language, not least for its complex face higher TV tax
payments from
grammatical system. Just remember to avoid the following common
August
pitfalls as an English speaker, and you'll sound like a native in no time.
From false friends to tricky word order, learning German can feel like
navigating an obstacle course sometimes. Noticeboard
But don’t worry: we’re here to take you through some of the most common
04/09 ONLINE TRANSFORMATIONAL
pitfalls for English speakers. Steer clear of these, and your German friends
LIFE COACHING SESSIONS & EFT
are bound to be sehr beeindruckt (very impressed) at your incredible
TAPPING
progress in learning their notoriously difficult language. 06/07 Online German and other
language lessons
Keep your friends close, but your false friends closer!
28/06 Assembly/Disassembly
Woodwork, Cabinetry, Flooring,
It’s easy to get caught out by false friends in the German language.
Painting
Sometimes a word sounds similar to something in English, so we deduce it
must also mean something similar. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, View all notices
In actual fact, ich will ng
means ‘I want’,
whereas it is ich werde German words yo
need to know: die
which means ‘I will’. It’s a bit of a muddle, but nothing some memorisation
Schnarchnase
can’t fix!
Das Gift
Mixing up your gifts could be the difference between a delicious birthday cake and a terrible
stomach ache. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Philipp von Ditfurth
Wer
Wer = who
Wo = where
Wo gehst du?
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9/28/21, 10:46 AM Four common mistakes English speakers make when learning German - The Local
Who is Julian?
The above are just a few examples of some false friends in the German
language – they can cause confusion but just keeping an eye out for them
will help! See the website link below for a longer list of false friends in
German:
https://germangirlinamerica.com/german-false-friends-list/
Simply speaking, haben goes with transitive verbs, while sein is used with
intransitive verbs.
Tut mir Leid, dass ich deinen Anruf verpasst habe – ich bin eingeschlafen!
Ensure your little ones fall asleep on time by reminding them of the difference between
German transitive and intransitive verbs. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Patrick Pleul
With your standard Ich mag Kaffee (‘I like coffee’) sentence, word order
follows the same rules as English – Subject-Verb-Object.
I like coffee.
READ ALSO: Ten German abbreviations that will have you texting like a true
native
KAPOW! Lob your verbs to the end of your subordinate clauses like a second-league
footballer trying to score from the halfway line. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sven Hoppe
The verb is also sent to the end in other linguistic scenarios, such as when
using a modal verb like can, should, could, or will:
Or in a relative clause:
As in the example above, sometimes a relative clause will have more than
one verb. In this case, it is the first verb which will appear at the end.
READ ALSO: Eight unique words and phrases that tell us something about
Germany
Inversion, in which the verb is brought in front of the subject into a VERB –
SUBJECT – OBJECT order, is also a regular feature of German sentences.
Inversions are caused by temporal adverbs or prepositional phrases:
Hopefully this gives you a brief overview of some word order particularities
in German. This is by no means exhaustive, so watch out for other changes
in word order, such as when using adverbs.
We know that the German wie can mean various things, including ‘like’ as a
conjunction. Don’t fall into the trap, however, of translating the English
phrase ‘like this/that’ literally, to ‘wie das’.
It doesn’t work this way in German, so if you want to talk about something
being ‘like that’ or doing something in a particular way, use so.
Bossing around your German friends is much more fun if you don’t mix up your likes and
your so’s. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Gollnow
Es sieht so aus.
The above German language tips are not at all exhaustive and just cover a
few areas of difficulty that most of us learners struggle with from time to
time. It’ll come together with practice, so keep going! And don’t get
discouraged if your Yoda impression a little time takes.
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