German/Appendices/False friends

There are some words which are spelled the same in English and in German, but have completely different meanings. Even though the words are spelled the same, they are usually pronounced completely differently. It can sometimes be dangerous to use these words (for both native English speakers and native German speakers.) Think of that, next time someone wants to give you a " Gift" or opens a door and says " After you!"

Note: This list contains some items of etymological interest. For example, the transformation of the consonant 't' in German to 'd' in English in word pairs like Bart->Beard, Bett->Bed, Gut->Good, Hart->Hard, Rot->Red, and Not->Need.

Although not spelled identically in both languages, beginners are often confused by the similarity of the German "bekommen" and English "to become".

bekommen => to receive, to get

werden => to become