When Gift Means Poison: Surprising German-English False Friends
Better German Podcast Episode 41
2025-07-31
Description & Show Notes
If traditional courses left you confused or frustrated, you’ll love our approach! Join the Better German Community - it is completely free and is all about understanding, not just memorizing—and it’s made for real learners like you. Inside, you’ll find an ever-growing library of resources, regular live lessons, and a space to connect with fellow learners. Ask questions, get answers, and explore all our courses—delivered right within the community itself.
Interested in taking a course?🤔
Interested in taking a course?🤔
Start by booking a free appointment. You’ll fill out a short questionnaire, get a personalized learning plan, and we’ll do your first lesson together.
Want to finally make real progress in German?
Live courses are starting soon. Check them out here.
Summary
In this episode of Better German, host Susi Blumel explores the often confusing concept of “false friends”—German words that look or sound like English ones but mean something entirely different. With relatable stories and examples like Gift, become, and Rat, Susi highlights how these tricky pairs can lead to misunderstandings. She shares practical tips for spotting and mastering false friends, including smart vocabulary-building strategies and the importance of a good dictionary. The episode also gives a shoutout to the free Better German Community—which is completely free to join and is an encouraging space for learners to connect and keep growing!
Introduction
Welcome to another episode of Better German! In today’s episode, host Susi Blumel dives into the fascinating and sometimes hilarious world of “false friends”—those tricky words that sound similar in German and English but mean totally different things. Susi shares her own first encounter with the confusion these words can cause, like mistaking the English word “gift” for poison, and breaks down some of the most common and confusing false friends you might run into as a learner of German. Plus, she’ll share some practical tips on how to not fall into the language false friends trap. Whether you’ve struggled with words like “become” or “brave,” or just want to avoid embarrassing mix-ups, you’ll find plenty of helpful examples and advice in this episode. Grab your dictionary and get ready to laugh as we uncover all the ways language learning can keep us on our toes!
Key Topics 🔎False Friends Between German & English
Want to finally make real progress in German?
Live courses are starting soon. Check them out here.
Summary
In this episode of Better German, host Susi Blumel explores the often confusing concept of “false friends”—German words that look or sound like English ones but mean something entirely different. With relatable stories and examples like Gift, become, and Rat, Susi highlights how these tricky pairs can lead to misunderstandings. She shares practical tips for spotting and mastering false friends, including smart vocabulary-building strategies and the importance of a good dictionary. The episode also gives a shoutout to the free Better German Community—which is completely free to join and is an encouraging space for learners to connect and keep growing!
Introduction
Welcome to another episode of Better German! In today’s episode, host Susi Blumel dives into the fascinating and sometimes hilarious world of “false friends”—those tricky words that sound similar in German and English but mean totally different things. Susi shares her own first encounter with the confusion these words can cause, like mistaking the English word “gift” for poison, and breaks down some of the most common and confusing false friends you might run into as a learner of German. Plus, she’ll share some practical tips on how to not fall into the language false friends trap. Whether you’ve struggled with words like “become” or “brave,” or just want to avoid embarrassing mix-ups, you’ll find plenty of helpful examples and advice in this episode. Grab your dictionary and get ready to laugh as we uncover all the ways language learning can keep us on our toes!
Key Topics 🔎False Friends Between German & English
- What “false friends” are—and how they sneakily confuse language learners
- Susi’s story: mistaking “Gift” (poison) for “gift” (present)—plus other classic mix-ups
- Why trusting your instincts can be risky when vocabulary looks familiar
- Practical strategies for avoiding false friend pitfalls
- Why building vocabulary isn’t optional—and how it fuels fluency, education, and career
- What to do when a sentence just doesn’t make sense—it might be a false friend!
- Learn key German-English false friends (with context and meaning):
▫️“bekommen” vs. “become”
▫️“fast” (almost) vs. “fast” (quick)
▫️“brav” vs. “brave,” “Aktuell,” “Fabrik,” and more - Practice ideas:
▫️Pause and check unknown words while watching or reading
▫️Look up full definitions—not just quick translations
▫️Make example sentences to solidify understanding - Bonus: Share your false friend moment in the Better German community
- Final word: Join the conversation, leave a review, and keep learning smarter!
Related Episodes🎧
Episode 1: Introduction to Better German
Episode 4: How to Learn German
Episode 5: Introduction to Articles
Episode 40: Colors
Other Resources📚
Episode 1: Introduction to Better German
Episode 4: How to Learn German
Episode 5: Introduction to Articles
Episode 40: Colors
Other Resources📚
- Check out this Interactive German Movie Guide with suitable TV shows and movies with subtitles in your language, so you can start using movies to learn right away! Watching German movies and TV shows is great to help you learn German. In this guide, you will find
- Listen to All The Episodes Published So Far!
✨ Join The Better German Community
Think you’re “bad at languages”? You’re not—the method was just wrong. Join the Better German Community and learn German in a way that finally makes sense.
Think you’re “bad at languages”? You’re not—the method was just wrong. Join the Better German Community and learn German in a way that finally makes sense.
📰 Sign Up for Our Newsletter
Get Tips & Updates Straight To Your Inbox!
🌍 Explore Our Podcast Episodes
New to the podcast? Head over to our podcast homepage to find other episodes you’ll love.
💬 Come See Our Approach For Yourself
We believe in real understanding, not just memorizing grammar rules—come see how we do in this YouTube Video.
🎓 Ready to take your German to the next level?
Click here to book your free first session and let’s get started! Find out which course is right for you!
Get Tips & Updates Straight To Your Inbox!
🌍 Explore Our Podcast Episodes
New to the podcast? Head over to our podcast homepage to find other episodes you’ll love.
💬 Come See Our Approach For Yourself
We believe in real understanding, not just memorizing grammar rules—come see how we do in this YouTube Video.
🎓 Ready to take your German to the next level?
Click here to book your free first session and let’s get started! Find out which course is right for you!
Whether you’re just starting or want to finally feel confident speaking German, we’ll build a personal learning path that fits you.
📲 Stay Connected and Follow Us On:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bettergermanonline/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bettergerman.info
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Better-German
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@susibettergerman
- Pinterest: https://de.pinterest.com/susibettergerman/
⭐ Enjoyed this episode?
If you liked what you heard, give us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or share it with a fellow learner!
Transcript
False friends, so there is something,
that is called a false friend.
And a false friend is a, word that
sounds as if it should have the
same or similar meaning in two
different languages, and it's not.
"Fast" English is "schnell" in
German, but in German "fast"
has nothing to do with speed.
It means almost.
Ich bin fast fertig.
I'm almost done.
Welcome to the Better German podcast.
I am Susi Blümel, a German teacher
and founder of Better German.
This podcast helps to learn
German in a simple and clear way.
With useful words, clear sentence
structures, pronunciation, and real
life topics from daily life and culture.
You'll also get tips for learning
German and understanding how
the language actually works.
And when you are ready, we have
a free community and courses
to support you even more.
All right, welcome.
So this is about false friends,
so there is something, that
is called a false friend.
And a false friend is a, word
that sounds as if it should have
the same or similar meaning in two
different languages and it's not.
Maybe let's look at first how
things could have similar meanings
and so they are no false friends.
So For example, German and English
are related languages, and you
see that in a lot of words.
"Father" English "father" is
German " Vater," "Fisch" is
"fish," " mother" is "Mutter".
—"house" is "Haus." So there are
very many words that sound the
same, or very similar, and you
can correctly guess what they are.
However, sometimes there are, words
that really sound as if they should be
something particularly, and they are not.
Of course, this is not just between
German and English, that can exist
between any languages, maybe not exactly
between German and Chinese so much, but
any languages that are somehow related.
So let's start with one
example that is kind of simple.
That is actually a good one, because
that was maybe the first time I realized
that there is something like false
friends, and I did not know the term
at this point, but when I found out
later, I actually had a laugh out of it.
The first time I was in an
English speaking country
was when I was 14 years old.
I was in, we call it,
"vierte Klasse,"
which is fourth grade,
but, we count it differently.
anyway, so I was 14 years old.
I had learned English at that time,
seriously for four years, because
we do learn it a little bit earlier
than that, but real lessons with a
teacher that has a curriculum and
stuff like that for four years.
And I was in England for the
first time and the first time
in an English speaking country.
By the way, I do understand
all people that learn foreign
languages and how tough it can be,
if you go to a different country.
So I was there and there was a gift
shop and that was very confusing for me.
Depending on what your level of German
is, you may or may not realize why.
So, gift, "Gift" I do not
even think that there is any
difference in the pronunciation.
" Gift" in German is poison.
And I was like, "Why poison shop?" and
it did not make sense and it looked to
me like a paper shop, paper supply shop,
The English word, "gift", is in German
"Geschenk," in the sense of present,
and we do not have really "Geschenk
Geschäfte." Sometimes we have these,
maybe in hospitals and stuff like that.
It was probably a train station where
I saw that, maybe even the airport.
Anyway, I was very confused and I think
I was confused for at least another hour,
and that is also a very good example of
what can happen if you do not understand
something, particularly words, in this
case we're talking about language,
so if you do not understand a word,
things can become very, very confusing.
I'm definitely not an advocate of that
philosophy that exists, in, I think
it's particularly a thing in the German
speaking area, where they say, "Okay,
good, fine, if there is words that
you do not understand, do not worry.
Just keep reading. Get used to it."
So I've been teaching languages for
almost 20 years professionally, as
a teacher, getting people to pay me
to help them, and I have always seen
that it's important to learn and to
understand words and not ignore them.
So let's go into more
examples of false friends.
I'm also going to give you some
tips other than just, "Okay, you
have to look them up," on how to see
that this could be a false friend.
So, okay, good.
A very, very important one is "become"
and "bekommen." So English "become,"
in the sense of "make a development."
And so, "he's becoming a teacher".
In German " bekommen,"
means to receive something.
So that would be "get." So, "I'm
getting a gift." That could be
very confusing Another one that
could be happening is "Rat."
"Der Rat," in German is an advice and
you write it, R-A-T, so like "rat".
So
"ein Rat"
If you give somebody , "einen
Rat," ich brauche einen Rat"
means, "I need some advice." It
does not mean "I need a rat".
I think that could be confusing too.
Another one, "fast" -English, is
"schnell" in German, but in German,
"fast," has nothing to do with speed.
It means, "almost."
"Ich bin fast fertig" -"I'm almost
done" "Ich habe fast kein Geld
mehr," "I am almost out of money".
"fast" means almost.
Then, another one, "brav" and brave.
So "brav," is well behaved.
You use that with children and dogs maybe.
I do not think we use
it on adults so much.
It's a little weird if you
say, my husband's well behaved.
I would never think of that.
But if you say, um, "Ja, jetzt sei
brav," ("be good" or "be well behaved")
like, I will say that to my dog, actually.
I have no idea if
he uh, understands that.
maybe he does not understand German,
anyway, so, obviously it's not brave,
it's not courageous, so it's well-behaved.
"Brav" I hope you like what you hear.
I wanted to mention this, so the
best way to learn German with me
is through my life group courses.
You get real teaching, you get life
support, and you get a clear path to
really learn German and use the language.
We also offer self-paced
courses and the free community
with resources and practice.
All of that you find on bettergerman.info.
Then let me do another one, "aktuell." So
"Ich höre aktuelle Nachrichten"
That means, " current," "up to date."
That would mean the sentence I just said,
"ich höre aktuelle Nachrichten," - "I'm
listening to current news." So I'm
going to just give you a few more.
"Kaution" in German, you could mix
it up with "caution," but what it
means is "deposit." Usually when
you, rent an apartment in Austria-
you usually have to give a deposit.
The usual thing is three months,
maybe four, with the first rent.
That is a deposit, and in German, that is
"die Kaution." Another
one, " eine Billion"- 1 billion.
That is I think between German and
American English, I'm not sure about.
UK by the way, so let me know.
Is that the case also in the UK?
" Eine Billion" is 1 trillion.
That is a number with 12 digits.
And another one, "Sparen"
means to save money.
"To spare" someone in German, that
would be, "jemanden verschonen",
"not do anything to him".
That is "to spare" someone.
Okay, I have a few more.
A "fabric" in English is a " Stoff" in
German, like the materials, and, " eine
Fabrik, die Fabrik," is a factory.
German word, "die Fabrik," means it's
a factory or plant There is another
set, "Icon" and "Ikone." "Icon" is
a symbol, like when you have small
icons in the computer world or maybe
you could even call emojis, icons.
They are special kind of icons.
That is also an icon in German, we
have taken over a lot of computer words.
But, there is this word "Ikone" and
that is the picture we have in some
churches, or it could be also an icon in
one particular sense, like somebody's an
icon of beauty or something like that.
Then we have the word "sea" and "See"
The word "sea" in English is of course
referring to ocean, you know, big amounts
of water, and in German, this is "Meer."
So by the way, "Ozean" and "ocean" works.
There is a German word "der Ozean,"
and that is English, "the ocean." And
Then, for kind of smaller parts of
the ocean that we call sea, in German
we call it "Meer." And "einen See,"
the German word "See" is a "lake", in
English another, the word, "another"
in English means in the sense of "an
additional one," "ein weiterer."
"Ein anderer," is "a different
one." It could be the same,
but it could be wrong too.
So, "ein anderer" is a different
person, a different one, and " another"
can mean an additional one, that you
would have to say, "ein weiterer"
or that is an important one:
the English word "where" means "wo" and
the German word, "wer" where, "wer,"
they are written similarly, not the
same in German, "Wer," you write W-E-R
and that means "who?" Then, English
"who" is in German "Wer," so there are
a few things that could be confusing.
I do not want to go into much more, but
let me know if that is interesting to you
and then I can give you more examples,
and I can give you a whole list of them.
What I do want to tell you is,
first of all, what you have to do
in order to not fall into the trap
of false friends, is you have to
continuously work on your vocabulary.
You can learn really, really well by
watching TV You should be watching with
subtitles You should read books and
look up the words in the books, but
you should not just do this passively,
but you should actively always
continue to work on your vocabulary.
Make it a point whenever you want
to improve German or any language
for that matter, you learn, you
continuously learn vocabulary.
You need like 3000 words to become
somewhat fluent, but that is only a start.
A relatively uneducated person, in
their native language, maybe only uses
5,000 words in their day-to-day life.
But, that is still 5,000.
That is many more than
those famous 3000 words.
But, an educated person uses
10 to 20,000 words or more.
Very educated person, up to 50,000 words.
Basically, the level of education,
and with that, the level of potential
income and so on, are influenced
by the number of words, you know.
So, always make it a point
of learning new words.
And The other thing is, if you hear a
sentence and you are wondering, " huh,
that does not make any sense?" or
just a little bit puzzled, then it's
usually because it does not make sense.
In that case, just look up
the words to be very sure.
And really, I also suggest you to
use a dictionary and not just a
translator, because a dictionary gives
you different versions of the words
and you can scan through them and find
the one that you need in that context.
Okay, thank you very much for listening.
In any case, let me know what false
friends you had problems with.
Maybe if there is any
funny stories, let me know.
And also, if there is some
false friends that you are
puzzled about, let me also know.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
If you enjoyed this episode,
please share it with someone
else who's learning German.
it could be exactly what they need.
And when you are ready to
go further, you'll find
everything at bettergerman.info.
tune in the next time.
Bye bye.