Free Worksheet: False Friends at Work

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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.