False Friends

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. The most famous one: "bekommen" in German does not mean "to become". What does it mean? to order, to command to get, to receive, to have to check, to control to see, to perceive

2. Also a very popular one: "sensibel" does not mean "sensible" but what? sensitive senseless sensual sententious

3. Another example: "sympathisch" is *not* the German word for "sympathetic". Which, then, is the correct word for the English? vernuenftig, verantwortungsbewusst verstaendnisvoll, mitfuehlend empfindlich, wehleidig zickig, undurchsichtig

4. German "Formular" and English "formula" are also likely to be mixed up. What is the correct German word for "formula"? Form Formalien Foermchen Formel, Schema

5. A rather morbid one that has often caused much confusion is the difference between German "Unternehmer" and English "undertaker". What is an undertaker known as in German? Geschaeftsmann Bauunternehmer Leichenbestatter Gerichtsmediziner, Pathologe

6. Some people falsely translate "gültig" as "guilty". But that's not correct ... What is the correct word for "gültig"? innocent valid true honest

7. "Eventuell" and "eventually" - mixing these two is very popular. They don't mean the same. What is the correct English word for "eventuell"? finally perhaps, possibly consistently consequently

8. There's a "Gymnasium" in German and a "gymnasium" in English. Yet these two are different things. What is a German "Gymnasium"? college, university elementary school high school, grammar school kindergarten

9. "Aktuell" is not "actual". How would the English word 'actual' be translated into German? schliesslich schrecklich persoenlich eigentlich

10. "My meaning is the following..." - that's what a German native speaker might say to his boss. Of course, what he wanted to say was something different. Which German word did he falsely translate as "meaning"? Minen Meinung Miene Minne