Bakst & Friends https://bakst.de/ English books and Denglisch merch for language learners in Germany Thu, 24 Sep 2026 21:08:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Free Worksheet: False Friends at Work https://bakst.de/lessons/english-exercises/free-worksheet-false-friends-at-work/ https://bakst.de/lessons/english-exercises/free-worksheet-false-friends-at-work/#respond Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:25:30 +0000 https://bakst.de/?p=1014 Let’s take a look at some tricky false friends for English learners in a German workplace. These are words that look similar in English and German but actually — actually! — have different meanings. We’ll start by reviewing the word pairs featured in this worksheet. If you’re anything short of an advanced English speaker, I […]

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]]> Let’s take a look at some tricky false friends for English learners in a German workplace. These are words that look similar in English and German but actually — actually! — have different meanings.

We’ll start by reviewing the word pairs featured in this worksheet. If you’re anything short of an advanced English speaker, I recommend reading this part first. Of course, you can always jump straight into the exercises to test yourself right away.

Key Vocabulary

Here’s an overview of the false friends in this worksheet.

Formatting notes:

  • For simplicity’s sake, we don’t always include the adverbial form of adjectives; for example, we’ll list current but not currently.
  • “To” before a verb denotes the infinitive form, “sth.” is short for something, and “sb.” is short for somebody.
  • Equivalent German abbreviations include “jdn.” (jemanden), “jdm.” (jemandem), and “etw.” (etwas).
  • Example: “to discredit sb./sth.” (German: jdn./etw. diskreditieren).

Example sentences marked with an asterisk (*) were adapted from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

Actual: For Real, Now?

  • What the English word really means in German: tatsächlich, eigentlich
  • What Germans think they’re saying: aktuell, gegenwärtig
  • What they should’ve said in English: current, at the moment, these days

Examples:

  • German to English: »Wer ist dein aktueller Arbeitgeber?« = “Who is your actual current employer?” (*)
  • English to German: “The actual cost of the repair was much higher than the estimate.” = »Die aktuellen tatsächlichen Reparaturkosten waren deutlich höher als der Kostenvoranschlag.« (*)

Become: Get It?

  • What the English word really means in German: werden
  • What Germans think they’re saying: bekommen, erhalten
  • What they should’ve said in English: get, have, receive

Examples:

  • German to English: »Sie haben Post bekommen.« = “You’ve become got mail.”
  • English to German: “The book has become quite popular.” = »Das Buch ist recht beliebt bekommen geworden.« (*)

Credit: Whose Money Is It?

  • What the English word really means in German: Guthaben, Gutschrift, Haben/Kredit
  • What Germans think they’re saying: Kredit, Darlehen
  • What they should’ve said in English: loan, line of credit, credit (uncountable)

Examples:

  • German to English: »Es wird noch einige Jahre dauern, bis sie Ihren Autokredit abbezahlen kann.« = “She’ll need several more years to pay off her car credit loan.” (*)
  • English to German: “We have added a credit of $50 to your account.” = »Wir haben einen Kredit Guthaben im Wert von 50€ auf Ihr Konto überwiesen.« (*)

Eventual: Maybe, Maybe Not?

  • What the English word really means in German: irgendwann, später, letztendlich, etwaig
  • What Germans think they’re saying: eventuell, vielleicht, möglicherweise
  • What they should’ve said in English: possibly, potentially, maybe, perhaps

Examples:

  • German to English: »Eventuell wird er sich von der Krankheit erholen, aber nichts ist sicher.« = “He’ll eventually possibly recover from the illness, but nothing is certain.”
  • English to German: “They’re counting on our eventual success.” = »Sie zählen auf unseren eventuellen letztendlichen Erfolg.« (*)

Intern: On the Inside?

  • What the English word really means in German: Praktikant:in
  • What Germans think they’re saying: intern, innerlich
  • What they should’ve said in English: internal

Examples:

  • German to English: »Wir mussten unsere internen Prozesse anpassen.« = “We’ve had to adapt our intern internal processes.”
  • English to German: “After medical school, he worked as an intern at the university hospital.” = »Nach seinem Medizinstudium hat er intern als Internist Praktikant an der Uniklinik gearbeitet.« (*)

Irritating: Angry or Puzzled?

  • What the English word really means in German: ärgerlich, lästig, nervig
  • What Germans think they’re saying: irritierend, verwirrend, unübersichtlich
  • What they should’ve said in English: confusing or at most a bit vexing

Examples:

  • German to English: »Ich war kurz irritiert.« = “I was irritated confused for a moment.”
  • English to German: “My mom was so irritated that she honked the horn.” = »Meine Mutter war dermaßen irritiert genervt, dass sie auf die Hupe gehauen hat.« (*)

Personal: People and HR?

  • What the English word really means in German: persönlich
  • What Germans think they’re saying: Personal, Mitarbeitende, Belegschaft
  • What they should’ve said in English: personnel, staff, workforce

Examples:

  • German to English: »Wir sorgen für das Wohlbefinden unseres Personals im täglichen Betrieb.« = “We ensure the well-being of our personal personnel in daily operations.”
  • English to German: “That’s just my personal opinion.” = »Das ist nur meine personelle persönliche Meinung.« (*)

Rentable: Renting for Profit?

  • What the English word really means in German: vermietbar, mietbar
  • What Germans think they’re saying: rentabel, profitabel, gewinnbringend
  • What they should’ve said in English: profitable, viable, lucrative, worthwhile

Examples:

  • German to English: »Der Verkauf von Immobilien hat sich für die Hausfrau als rentables Nebengeschäft erwiesen.« = “Selling real estate on the side turned out to be a rentable profitable business for the stay-at-home mom.” (*)
  • English to German: “The property is finally rentable again after extensive repairs, but we still need to find new tenants.” = »Nach umfangreichen Reparaturen ist das Grundstück endlich wieder rentabel vermietbar, aber wir müssen noch neue Mieter finden.«

Sensible: Does It Make Sense?

  • What the English word really means in German: vernünftig, sinnvoll, gescheit
  • What Germans think they’re saying: sensibel, empfindlich, einfühlsam, heikel
  • What they should’ve said in English: sensitive

Examples:

  • German to English: »Nach deutschem Recht müssen wir vertrauliche Dokumente und sensible Daten schützen.« = “German law requires us to protect confidential documents and sensible sensitive data.”
  • English to German: “My teacher gave me some sensible advice.” = »Meine Lehrerin hat mir sensible vernünftige Ratschläge gegeben.« (*)

Sympathetic: Like and Be Liked?

  • What the English word really means in German: verständnisvoll, mitfühlend, wohlwollend
  • What Germans think they’re saying: sympathisch, angenehm, liebenswert
  • What they should’ve said in English: likeable, friendly, pleasant, congenial

Examples:

  • German to English: »Er ist ein sympathischer Typ, mit dem man sich schnell anfreunden kann.« = “He’s a sympathetic likeable guy who’s easy to make friends with.”
  • English to German: “He got a lot of help from sympathetic friends.” = »Er bekam viel Unterstützung von sympathischen verständnisvollen Freunden.« (*)

Practice: False Friends at Work

Test your understanding of key vocabulary by completing these short exercises.

Exercise A

Exercise B

Further Reading

If you’re curious to learn more about this topic, here are some external resources that are both free and useful last we checked:

  • Resource 1
  • Resource 2
  • Resource 3

Also, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we make language books! We’ve got workbooks full of exercises like this one plus a whole lot more. You can head over to our shop and see if anything strikes your fancy.

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]]> https://bakst.de/lessons/english-exercises/free-worksheet-false-friends-at-work/feed/ 0 Free Worksheet: Linguistic Easter Eggs on This Site https://bakst.de/lessons/english-exercises/free-worksheet-linguistic-easter-eggs-on-this-site/ https://bakst.de/lessons/english-exercises/free-worksheet-linguistic-easter-eggs-on-this-site/#respond Mon, 09 Mar 2026 11:00:38 +0000 https://bakst.de/?p=647 The first free worksheet reveals itself to be a shameless promotional plug! Still, you might learn something about false friends in English and German. If you’ve seen our front page, you’ve probably noticed we had a lot of fun writing the copy for this website. It’s a gimmick, sure, but we can make something out […]

The post Free Worksheet: Linguistic Easter Eggs on This Site appeared first on Bakst & Friends.

]]> The first free worksheet reveals itself to be a shameless promotional plug! Still, you might learn something about false friends in English and German.

If you’ve seen our front page, you’ve probably noticed we had a lot of fun writing the copy for this website. It’s a gimmick, sure, but we can make something out of it.

So here’s my very first free worksheet for you:

  • There are little linguistic Easter eggs all over the front page. Can you spot (and understand) them all?
  • In each case, we’ve crossed out the false friend and highlighted a more fitting term for the given context.
  • Use this site’s language switcher to test yourself in both English and German. (Note that we’ve translated freely, so the words don’t always match.)

Take your time studying the explanations below, then take the quiz to test your understanding. Feeling confident? You can always jump straight into the quiz.

Explanation: False Friends on Our Homepage

Expand the sections below to learn more about each item.

Want to navigate your German bureau office with the confidence of a native speaker?

The word bureau does exist in English, but it has a narrower meaning than just a regular office:

  • In British English, it’s a type of writing desk or a chest of drawers.
  • Otherwise, bureau usually describes a special administrative unit or government agency — like the American FBI, which stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  • Bureau may also refer to the local branch of a media outlet (as in correspondent’s bureau or the newspaper’s London bureau) and certain commercial agencies (like a credit bureau).

The German word Büro, on the other hand, simply refers to an office in the sense of a workplace (Geschäftsstelle), building (Bürogebäude), or room (Arbeitszimmer). The German word covers some but not all of the English bureau meanings in compounds like Redaktionsbüro (editorial office) or Korrespondenzbüro (correspondent’s bureau). However, Germans generally use other words in reference to government agencies (Bürgeramt, Finanzamt, Einwanderungsbehörde, Arbeitsagentur, etc.).

Honestly, it won’t happen from today on tomorrow overnight.

English and German sometimes share the same idiom nearly word for word; for example, das Rad neu erfinden means to reinvent the wheel.

However, that’s not the case here.

When something happens fast or suddenly, English speakers might say it happened overnight (figuratively, not literally). German has the saying von heute auf morgen, which translates literally — but not properly — to “from today on tomorrow.” A more accurate translation would be from one day to the next.

We cooperate collaborate with independent artists to make learning beautiful again.

This is more nuanced: The verbs collaborate and cooperate are pretty close in meaning, but they’re not quite the same.

When you’re working with a partner at eye level, as in our example with the indie artists, to collaborate is usually more accurate. It means “to work jointly with others” toward a common goal, similar to the German verbs zusammenarbeiten, kollaborieren, mitwirken, and — crucially — also kooperieren.

That last synonym looks a lot like to cooperate, but the English verb implies a different sort of relationship. When you cooperate, it’s often a reluctant partnership, one that’s more one-sided or maybe even against your will. For example, the subject of an investigation might be cooperating with the police, but two business partners working together by mutual agreement would be collaborating on a joint venture.

This book is our actual current top pick.

English actual and German aktuell: an absolute classic among false friends! German aktuell means English current, whereas English actual means German tatsächlich or eigentlich depending on the sentence.

Um, ack-shoo-uh-lee…

Learning a language mustn’t needn’t be a grind.

In German, nicht müssen means there’s no obligation: “Du musst nicht sofort zahlen” means you don’t have to pay right away, you can pay later.

German speakers often assume English must works in a similar way, but the reality is a bit more complicated.

Yes, the modal verb must can simply describe an obligation, just like müssen. We often see this in formal language: “All employees must wash hands” is a command, not an option. But especially in informal usage, must often suggests that the speaker assumes something to be the case or wants it to be so. Example: “You must be tired after all that driving.” That obviously doesn’t mean you’re obligated to be tired, just that it seems likely.

It gets worse with must not (mustn’t), which is closer to should not than it is to not have to. Compare:

  • “I don’t have to work tomorrow. The boss has given me the day off.” = »Ich muss morgen nicht arbeiten. Die Chefin hat mich freigestellt.«
  • “I needn’t work tomorrow. It’s up to me.” = »Ich brauche morgen nicht zu arbeiten. Es ist mir überlassen.«
  • “I mustn’t work tomorrow. I know I’m a workaholic, but it’s my daughter’s birthday!” = »Ich sollte morgen wirklich nicht arbeiten. Ich weiß, ich bin zwar arbeitssüchtig, aber meine Tochter hat Geburtstag!«

Rule of thumb: If you want to say (nicht) müssen in German, the easy English translation is usually (not) have to rather than must (not).

Exercise Workbooks to help you master English and German at all levels.

An exercise book is what pupils use to write things down in school, at least in British English. It’s got blank pages in it, typically lined or squared. Germans call that an Aufgabenheft. This type of notebook has different names across the English-speaking world: composition book (US), scribbler (Canada), copy book (Ireland), jotter (Scotland), or khata (India).

What we’re selling here is something else: workbooks, which are books filled with exercises for you to practice your language skills. (Although we do also sell a cool vocabulary notebook, which is a kind of exercise book.)

So yes, what I’m telling you is that an exercise book does not have any exercises in it. That would be a workbook, which is not actually for work but for self-study. And a British exercise book is not the same as a German Übungsbuch, even though exercise (practice) is die Übung and book is das Buch.

Have I mentioned that language is weird?

Tip Tap the button below to see all the study guides.

The most common verbs for activating a digital button are press, click, and tap. That last one translates to tippen in German, making it easy to confuse with the English verb (or noun) tip. Otherwise, phrases like “smash that Like button” are common, but that sort of YouTube slang might be inappropriate in formal business settings.

Curious on about language and culture?

This is about prepositions. In English, we’re curious about something or someone, whereas in German we’re neugierig auf jemanden oder etwas.

Why not curious *on or neugierig *über? You might as well ask, “Warum ist die Banane krumm?!” The answer is buried somewhere deep in the history of the world and its people. It exceeds the scope of this exercise and is, frankly, beyond my pay grade.

Get your dose of practical advices from pro instructors in adult language education.

There are several words that are uncountable in English but countable in German. Advice is one of them (German: Rat or Ratschlag/Ratschläge). An English speaker will never add an -s to advice or any of these other examples:

  • information
  • furniture
  • progress
  • behavior
  • homework
  • research
  • traffic

To count these uncountable nouns, you can add determiners like some furniture or much traffic, or you can use phrases like a piece of information, a bit of progress, a sheet of paper, and so on.

Mundane Classy stationery […]

If German is your native language, you might recognize the false friend here: mondän. It looks a lot like the English word mundane, but the meanings are quite the opposite.

German mondän describes something elegant or extravagant: »Aber an mondänen Orten sollte man ja nie auf die Preise achten.« (Der Tagesspiegel, 17.07.2001, vgl. DWDS) By contrast, English mundane describes something ordinary or practical: “the mundane concerns of day-to-day life” (cited in Merriam-Webster).

The reason these two words look so similar is because they come from the same Latin word for “world.” Old French developed the sense of “worldly, of this world” (as opposed to “spiritual, of the church”), and later French and German got the modern notion of mondain to describe the finer things in life (in contrast to the austere ways of the church).

English speakers took the same word but developed a different understanding of it. A mundane life on Earth is concerned with practical human affairs: buying groceries, doing business, playing sports. More literally, mundane is the opposite of spiritual, as this example shows: “Humans continually petition the gods for mundane services, from winning sporting events to saving their jobs…” (cited in Merriam-Webster, see above).

Now you can impress your work colleges colleagues with our merchandise.

WIP

Spare Save 10% when you buy here.

WIP

Want the chef boss to know you’re serious?

WIP

Hit the big red button to see anything everything we’ve got.

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Quiz: How Well Do You Know These False Friends?

Answer these multiple-choice questions to test your understanding of the German–English false friends on our front page. Each question always has exactly one correct answer.

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