Question

You are speaking with another student who is just beginning to learn German and hear him use a false cognate incorrectly. In order to help him, write five complete German sentences that each use a false cognate correctly.

Answer 1

False friends are a problem in language pairs that are etymologically related. English and German indeed have some nice ones. Here are five examples with the cognates highlighted, and used correctly:

(1) Was für ein sonniger Tag! (Tag means day, not a tag)

(2) Kann ich Ihnen einen Rat geben? (Rat means advice, not a rat)

(3) Ich sehe ihn durch die Glasswand. (Wand means a wall, not a wand)

(4) Blamieren Sie sich doch nicht! (Blamieren means embarrass, not blame)

(5) Ihr Apartment sieht groß aus. (groß means large, not gross)