Typical Traps and Pitfalls of the German Language (for English speakers)
NOTE: English words are written in italics, German words or phrases in “quotes” when occurring in a text or in explanations.
all summer (long)
Even though you might be having fun all summer, weekend, or day, Germans make sure that they enjoy their entire summer, weekend, or day by using the adjective “ganz”: Germans do have “Spaß”, but “den ganzen Sommer/Tag/Monat/ Nachmittag” or “das ganze Wochenende/Semster”, etc.
also / also
Always a source of utter confusion, the German word “also” does NOT mean also–or too–in English, but rather so, hence, therefore. So/hence/therefore (German “also”!), make sure that you use the friendly but often forgotten German word “auch” when expression that one thing is the case in addition to another. I, too (German “auch”!), will thank you profusely!
bekommen
Does not, no matter how much you’d like for it to, mean to become. This honor, rather, is given to the irregular verb “werden”: to become, turn (into), get, etc.
“Bekommen” means to get or to receive: “Mein Vater bekommt einen Mantel zum Geburtstag.” – After all, wouldn’t it be rather strange for a grown man to turn into a coat … on his birthday…?
class
Don’t we all wish we had class–just like Grace Kelley or Cary Grant, Princess Diana or Frank Sinatra? Because that’s exactly what “Klasse” in the sense of “Ich habe heute um 12 Uhr Klasse.” means. To indicate that you are going to indulge in a mentally more or less stimulating academic experience, you need to use the word “(der) Unterricht”: “Wir haben heute um halb drei Unterricht.”, “Wie war der Unterricht gestern?”, or “Oh nein, ich habe den Unterricht verpasst!”
The other – more academic – meaning of the word “Klasse” (or, in this case, “Kurs”) refers to a group of students that share a room during (a) specified time(s) of day; so you and your fellow students in your German class can truthfully say: “Wir alle sind in einer Klasse.”
dann vs. denn
The conjuntions “dann” and “denn” are often mixed up; luckily, they don’t have any similarity in meaning: where “dann” is used in the sense of then or afterwards (“Zuerst gehen wir einkaufen und dann gehen wir ins Kino.”), “denn” is directly related to “weil” in its reason-giving meaning as because, since, or as: “Wir gehen heute nicht einkaufen, denn das Wetter ist so schlecht.”
first, second, third … last
Of course, there is “erst-”, “zweit-”, “dritt-”, etc. (with their respective endings), but make sure you use “zuerst” and “zuletzt” to express that you do something first(ly) and last(ly).
gefallen
For those ‘hispanophiles’ among you, “gefallen” functions pretty much like the Spanish verb gustar: Even though in English you might say that you like something, “gefallen”–to split hairs–means that something appeals to you; this is also why you had better use the dative case with this elusive verb: “Das Auto gefällt mir sehr.” Note, though, that “gefallen” is hardly ever used in a different form than “gefällt” or “gefallen”, as a thing or things appeal to you … and not you to them. – Also see entry below for like.
Haus, ¨-er (das)
Only refers to a house as a building or structure. Often students want to express something along the lines of to my house or at my house: in this case, use the expressions “nach Hause” (home, toward home) and “zu Hause” (at home), respectively.
it
Oh dear–here we go again: Why can’t German be like English? Why does it have to be so … interesting? Or rather confusing? In any event, remember that ANYthing–or rather any WORD–in German is either masculine (“der”), feminine (“die”) or neuter (“das”)–not male, female, or … well, neuter. Even inanimate things! Therefore, you may need to refer to any German IT as he, she, him, her … or it–the latter only, however, if the word is actually neuter (“das”): “Wie war der Film?”-“Oh, ER war ausgezeichnet!”
like
All right, you really like something. But how to say it in German? Just as in English, where you might like, love, or dig something–all the while this thing might also appeal to you–German offers several options, as well: With things, objects and people you can either use the irregular verb “mögen” (“Ich mag Tee, aber Kaffee mag ich nicht besonders.”) or the expression “gern haben”: “Peter hat Beate sehr gern.” The third option in this category is the verb “gefallen” (see entry above), which literally expresses that something has an appeal to someone; this is also why even though Peter may like the shirt in English, while in German “das Hemd gefällt ihm” would be the way to go (mind the correct use of the dative case!).
It’s a slightly different story, however, when you like doing something when you have to use the adverb “gern” after the main verb: “Ich lese gern Gedichte von Goethe.” (see how the “gern” refers to and defines the verb “lesen”?).
Now, how about like in the sense of “This tastes like sh.. well, something bad.” Here you’re making a comparison and must use the word “wie”: “Das Bier schmeckt wie Wasser.”
must
Must I or mustn’t I? – Or rather: Do I have to or am I not allowed to? … The latter two more accurately reflect the correct use of the German modal (and therefore irregular) verbs “müssen” (have to) and “dürfen” (may or be allowed to); “nicht müssen” therefore means that you don’t have to do something, whereas “nicht dürfen” indicates that something is forbidden.
Schule, -n (die)
Refers solely to a school as a primary or secondary educational institution; anything past high school or German “Abitur” is referred to as “Universität” or, in short, “Uni”.
To be going to school (primary/secondary) is “in die Schule” or “zur Schule gehen/fahren”; to express that you are at school (primary/ secondary) you’d use the expression “in der Schule”.
Concurrently, going to college is “zur Uni”, at college “an/in der Uni”.
(also see: Student/in)
Student, -en (der) / Studentin, -nen (die)
The German word “Student” and its female counterpart “Studentin” with their respective plural forms refer exclusively to college or university students; when nonchalantly stating “Ich bin Student/in.”, you are de facto saying that you are enrolled at a college or university.
When talking about primary or secondary school student, use the word “Schüler” or “Schülerin”, respectively (see entry for Schule above).
study
Studying–in the sense of ‘cramming information into your brain’–equates to the German verb “lernen”, whether it be studying for a test or generally studying a field or subject.
The verb “studieren” is used in 2 different ways, both, however, referring only to college studies: (a) to major in a specific field or discipline (“Ich studiere Psychologie.” – I’m a psychology major.), and (b) to be enrolled at a higher learning institution: “Was bist du von Beruf?” – “Ich studiere (noch).”
suchen
I know, I know: in English you look for something. In German, however, you don’t: all you do is seek something (without the for). Prepositions, such as for, to, at, by, etc. most often do not, or only poorly, translate. Another example of a “for-less” verb is “einkaufen” (to shop for something), but there are many more … believe me!
when
“O, wenn das Wörtchen wenn nicht wär’…” – As a rule of thumb, use “wenn” whenever English calls for the word when. But unfortunately, things aren’t quite as easy: the German “wenn” equates to the English when as in whenever, but NOT to the question word when…? which is “wann…?” in German; “wenn” is also a synonym for the conjunction “falls”, meaning if or in case, as in If I had a million dollars … (“Wenn ich eine Million Dollar hätte, …”)
Last, but not least, don’t use “wenn” when(ever) referring to a past event: Talking about when you were a child demands the use of the German conjunction “als” as in “Als ich ein Kind war, …” — Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? (Not!)
will / will
Oh no – don’t even think about it: the German word “will” is the first (ich) and third person (er/sie/es) form of the verb “wollen” (to want)!
The English auxiliary verb will as used primarily in the future tense (Don’t worry, I will do that. or What will you do after you finish school?) is expressed by the irregular German verb “werden” (see also: bekommen), followed by an infinitive.
I hope this helps a little; there is more to come, so hang on tight … and always dot your i’s, cross your t’s, capitalize your nouns – and “lern” your “Deutsch”!