A list of German cognates in English can make learning German easier. One of my teachers always said that you have to start with the things you know and move toward the things you do not know. This is why I would recommend starting with learning German with cognates.
Perfect German Cognates in English
Perfect German cognates, otherwise known as friendly allies, are words that are the same in both German and English. The only difference is the pronunciation of the word. So, you already know the word’s meaning and spelling, now only add the pronunciation as well as the gender and you are good to go.
| der Arm | der Mast |
| der Bandit | die Mine |
| die Bank | modern |
| die Basis | der Moment |
| blind | die Motivation |
| die Butter | das Museum |
| digital | der Name |
| elegant | die Nation |
| die Emotion | normal |
| emotional | die Olive |
| der Export | parallel |
| der Finger | der Pilot |
| die Hand | das Problem |
| das Hotel | der Professor |
| die Immigration | das Radio |
| der Import | die Religion |
| die Inflation | das Restaurant |
| die Information | die Rose |
| die Inspiration | der Service |
| das Instrument | das Signal |
| international | der Sport |
| irrational | die Statue |
| legal | der Stress |
| liberal |
Lended and Borrowed Words
Technically these words are not German cognates. I think the reason is that they, except for verbs which are “Germanized”, retain their English pronunciation. Yet, I think that due to the fact that they are already familiar to the English mind, they will be easy to pick up.
| das Baby | klicken |
| der Boss | managen |
| das Business | der Manager |
| das Catering | das Marketing |
| die City | Okay |
| der Computer | online |
| cool | outsourcen |
| das Event | die Party |
| Fashion | pink |
| das Fast Food | das Shopping |
| das Feeling | die Shorts |
| flirten | die Show / die Talkshow |
| der Headhunter | das Steak |
| Hi | stoppen |
| hip | surfen |
| der Hit | das Team |
| das Hotel | der Thriller |
| das Internet | der Tourist |
| das Interview | der Trainer |
| der Jetlag | das T-Shirt |
| der Job | der Workshop |
| joggen | Wow |
| killen |
Near Cognates
Next, we have words that are almost the same, these are words with the same meaning and similar spelling, with the pronunciation, once again, varied.
| Deutsch | English |
|---|---|
| die Adresse | the address |
| der Aspekt | the aspect |
| der Bär | the bear |
| blond | blond(e) |
| die Bluse | the blouse |
| braun | brown |
| die Demokratie | the democracy |
| direkt | direct |
| der Doktor | the doctor |
| exakt | exact |
| exzellent | excellent |
| fantastisch | fantastic |
| der Fisch | the fish |
| das Glass | the glass |
| das Haus | the house |
| hungrig | hungry |
| indirekt | indirect |
| die Industrie | the industry |
| die Infektion | the infection |
| das Insekt | the insect |
| der Kaffee | the coffee |
| das Knie | the knee |
| die Komödie | the comedy |
| die Kondition | the condition |
| konservativ | conservative |
| der Kontinent | the continent |
| das Konzert | the concert |
| die Kultur | the culture |
| logisch | logical |
| das Mandat | the mandate |
| der Mann | the man |
| die Maschine | the machine |
| die Maus | the mouse |
| die Methode | the method |
| die Mobilität | the mobility |
| die Musik | the music |
| die Nationalität | the nationality |
| die Natur | nature |
| offiziell | official |
| der Ozean | the ocean |
| das Papier | the paper |
| das Parlament | the parliament |
| perfekt | perfect |
| politisch | political |
| potenziell | potential |
| praktisch | practical |
| das Programm | the program |
| das Salz | the salt |
| der Scheck | the check |
| sonnig | sunny |
| der Supermarkt | the supermarket |
| das Telefon | the telephone |
| die Theorie | the theory |
| der Tragödie | the tragedy |
| die Walnuss | the walnut |
Non-Cognates
I don’t think that non-cognates is a real word but just bear with me. These are the words that look either exactly the same or at least similar. Yet, they have completely different meanings and the reason why I include this in this post is that I think that when learning we should always look at what is similar between things, but also what is different. This will make uncharted waters seem a little less daunting.
In the following table, I will give you the German word, what you might think the English should be, what the English actually is as well as the German of the English word that you think it should be. In the first line, for example, the German word is After. One would think that the English equivalent should also be ‘after’, but it actually is ‘anus’. The Geman translation of after (the English one) is nach or nachdem.
| Deutsch | English That Is Expected | Actual English | German of Expected English Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| After | after | anus | nach / nachdem |
| aktuell | actual | up-to-date / current | tatsächlich |
| also | also | so / therefore / thus | auch |
| blad | bald | soon | kahl / glatzköpfig |
| bekommen | to become | to get | werden |
| Boot | boot | boat | Stiefel |
| brav | brave | well-behaved | tapfer |
| Brief | letter | brief | kurz / Auftrag / Unterlagen |
| Chef | chef | boss / supervisor | Küchenchef / Chefkoch / Koch |
| eventuell | eventual / eventually | possible / possibly | schließlich |
| fast | fast | almost | schnell / rash |
| genial | genial | genius | heiter |
| Gift | gift / present | poison | Geschenk |
| Handy | handy | cellphone | praktisch / geschickt / handlich |
| Hut | hut | hat | Hütte |
| Kind | kind | child | nett / lieb / liebenswürdig |
| Komfort | comfort | amenity | trösten |
| Kost | cost | food / fare | kosten |
| kurios | curious | strange | neugierig |
| Mist | mist | manure | Nebel / Dunst |
| Mobbing | mob | bullying / harassing | Pöbbel / Rotte / anpöbeln |
| Most | most | unfermented fruit juice / young fruit wine | das meiste |
| Oldtimer | old man | vintage car | alter Hase (old rabbit) |
| ordinär | ordinary | vulgar | normal / gewöhnlich |
| pathetisch | pathetic | overly emotional | jämmerlich / armselig |
| plump | plump | clumsy / tactless | rundlich |
| Präservativ | preservative | condom | Konservierungsmittel |
| Provision | provision | commission | Vorsorge / Versorgung |
| Rat | rat | advice / counsel | Ratte |
| Rock | rock | skirt | Fels |
| See | see | lake / sea | sehen |
| sensibel | sensible | sensitive | vernünftig |
| Smoking | smoking | tuxedo | rauchen |
| spenden | spend | donate | ausgeben |
| sympathisch | sympathetic | likeable / congenial | verständnisvoll |
| Taste | taste | key (on a musical instrument) / button | Geschmack |
Have fun with this little bit of familiarity in the unfamiliar territory of German.
xoxo,
Charlé
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