I. Theory
In German, there is a wide variety of words that look and sound similar to words we have in English. When these words share a common meaning in both languages, they are known as cognates. However, words that look similar and don’t have the same meaning are known as false cognates or falsche Freunde.In the following examples, we see that the meaning of the German words in question are not what they seem.
| Konstruktive Kritik ist immer erwünscht. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Der Fotograf besitzt eine Kunsthalle in New York. The photographer has an art gallery in New York. Wir lesen im Prospekt über die Sehenswürdigkeiten. We read about the attractions in the brochure. |
II. Falsche Freunde
This lesson will focus on four false cognates: Fotograf, Prospekt, Kritik, and Konkurrenz. For each false cognate, the English definition is provided along with the word it may be confused with. The word in parenthesis is the correct German word for the word in quotation marks.Fotograf: Photographer, not “photograph” (Foto)
| Wir müssen einen Fotografen für die Hochzeit finden. We have to find a photographer for the wedding. Mein Bruder macht gern Fotos und will Fotograf werden. My brother likes taking photos and wants to be a photographer. |
Prospekt: brochure, not “prospect” (Aussicht)
| Der Grafiker entwirft den Prospekt. The graphic designer is creating the brochure. Im Prospekt gibt es keine Informationen darüber. There is no information about that in the brochure. |
Kritik: criticism, not “critic” (KritikerIn)
| Hast du die Kritik über das Theaterstück gelesen? Did you read the criticism about the play? Er ist wegen seiner Handlungen stark in die Kritik geraten. He is receiving a lot of criticism due to his actions. |
Konkurrenz: competition, not “concurrence” (Gleichzeitigkeit)
| Der Professor will Konkurrenz unter den Studenten vermeiden. The professor wants to avoid competition amongst the students. Diese Bewerberin ist ihrer Konkurrenz einen Schritt voraus. This applicant is one step ahead of her competition. |