{"id":8295,"date":"2017-04-12T13:06:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T13:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8295"},"modified":"2017-10-25T11:25:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T11:25:13","slug":"misleading-german-verbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/misleading-german-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Misleading German Verbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! A while ago a blog reader called Michael sent this comment in: \u201can idea for a post\u2026 My knowledge of simple vocabulary sometimes lets me guess correctly at more complicated words. Halten\/hold. Erhalten\/receive. But sometimes knowing the basic word leads you down the wrong path. Erfahren is not about \u201cto drive,\u201d nor aufh\u00f6ren about listening. MIght be interesting to explore when the build-up of basic vocabulary leads to obvious or surprising places.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

I am sure we are all aware of the \u2018false friends\u2019 we have between German and English, such as the German word rot<\/strong> meaning red<\/strong> when an English speaker would assume it means to rot (decay)<\/strong>. Or the German word die Lust<\/strong> (enthusiasm)<\/strong> which, although it has the same spelling, does not have the same meaning as the English word lust<\/strong> (sexual passion). <\/strong>But what about this alternative kind of \u2018false friend\u2019 Michael mentions, where German words that look as though they\u2019re related have completely different meanings? This most often happens when prefixes are added to German verbs. I\u2019ve tried to find as many as possible to list here, but if you know of any more, let me know in the comments and I will add them to this post!<\/p>\n

For more on German prefixes, click here<\/a> and here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more on German\/English false friends, click here<\/a> and here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MISLEADING GERMAN VERBS.<\/em><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

brauchen \u2013 to need
\nmissbrauchen \u2013 to abuse\/misuse<\/h2>\n

Ich brauche<\/strong> meine Jacke – I need <\/strong>my jacket
\nEr missbraucht<\/strong> sie \u2013 He abuses <\/strong>her<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

brechen \u2013 to break
\nerbrechen \u2013 to vomit<\/h2>\n

Wer wird dein Herz brechen? – <\/strong>Who will break<\/strong> your heart?<\/strong>
\nIch muss erbrechen<\/strong> \u2013 I need to vomit<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Broken<\/a>

Use the verb brechen (to break) to describe a broken heart … But add ‘er’ onto that verb to make ‘erbrechen’, and you’re talking about something else altogether! Photo by Nicolas Raymond on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

bringen \u2013 to bring
\numbringen \u2013 to kill<\/h2>\n

Ich bringe<\/strong> meine Tasche – I’ll bring<\/strong> my bag
\nIch bringe<\/strong> sie um<\/strong> – I’ll kill<\/strong> her<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

fahren \u2013 to drive
\nerfahren \u2013 to experience<\/h2>\n

Wir fahren<\/strong> nach London \u2013 We\u2019re driving <\/strong>to London
\nIch habe so viel erfahren<\/strong> \u2013 I experienced <\/strong>so much<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

fehlen \u2013 to miss\/lack
\nempfehlen \u2013 to recommend<\/h2>\n

sie fehlen <\/strong>mir \u2013 I miss<\/strong> them
\nKannst du mir etwas empfehlen<\/strong>? \u2013 Could you recommend<\/strong> something to me?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

geben \u2013 to give
\nzugeben – to admit\/confess<\/h2>\n

Kannst du mir es geben<\/strong>? – Can you give<\/strong> me it?
\nDu musst zugeben<\/strong>, dass ich gut aussehe! \u2013 You have to admit<\/strong>, I look good!<\/p>\n

h\u00f6ren \u2013 to hear
\naufh\u00f6ren \u2013 to stop<\/h2>\n

Ich kann es nicht h\u00f6ren<\/strong> \u2013 I can\u2019t hear<\/strong> it
\nIch kann es nicht aufh\u00f6ren<\/strong> \u2013 I can\u2019t stop<\/strong> (doing) it<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

kaufen \u2013 to buy
\nverkaufen \u2013 to sell<\/h2>\n

Ich muss es kaufen<\/strong> \u2013 I must buy<\/strong> it
\nIch muss es verkaufen<\/strong> \u2013 I must sell <\/strong>it
\n(Be very careful with these two! ? )<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

kommen \u2013 to come
\nbekommen – to receive\/get<\/h2>\n

Wir kommen <\/strong>bald \u2013 We\u2019re coming<\/strong> soon
\nWas hast du zu Weihnachten bekommen<\/strong>? \u2013 What did you get (receive)<\/strong> for Christmas?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

lassen \u2013 to leave (alone)
\nzulassen \u2013 to allow\/authorise<\/h2>\n

Lass<\/strong> mich in ruhe \u2013 Leave<\/strong> me in peace
\nDass kann ich nicht zulassen<\/strong> \u2013 I can\u2019t allow\/authorise<\/strong> that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

reisen \u2013 to travel
\nzerrei\u00dfen \u2013 to rip up<\/h2>\n

Ich will reisen<\/strong> \u2013 I want to travel
\nIch will es zerrei\u00dfen<\/strong> \u2013 I want to tear it up
\n(One letter difference with the \u00df –<\/strong> double s – rather than single s, but could still confuse)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

sagen \u2013 to say
\nversagen \u2013 to fail\/malfunction<\/h2>\n

Sie sagt<\/strong> immer, was sie denkt \u2013 She always says <\/strong>what she thinks
\n‘Versuchen ist der erste Schritt zum Versagen’<\/strong> \u2013 ‘Trying is the first step to failure’<\/strong> (funny saying; note Versagen is capitalised because it is a noun here)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

sprechen \u2013 to speak
\nversprechen \u2013 to promise<\/h2>\n

Wir sprechen<\/strong> Deutsch \u2013 We speak<\/strong> German
\nIch verspreche<\/strong> dir \u2013 I promise<\/strong> you<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

tragen \u2013 to carry
\nvertragen \u2013 to tolerate<\/h2>\n

Kannst du die Tasche bitte tragen<\/strong>? \u2013 Can you please carry<\/strong> the bag?
\nIch kann dieses Verhalten nicht vertragen<\/strong>! \u2013 I cannot tolerate<\/strong> this behaviour!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bis bald – and Michael, if you’re reading, I hope this helps you!<\/p>\n

Constanze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! A while ago a blog reader called Michael sent this comment in: \u201can idea for a post\u2026 My knowledge of simple vocabulary sometimes lets me guess correctly at more complicated words. Halten\/hold. Erhalten\/receive. But sometimes knowing the basic word leads you down the wrong path. Erfahren is not about \u201cto drive,\u201d nor aufh\u00f6ren…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":8298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[264,95131,376023,2418,166],"class_list":["post-8295","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-false-friends","tag-german-language","tag-language","tag-prefix","tag-verbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8295"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8768,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8295\/revisions\/8768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}