{"id":2069,"date":"2015-06-23T20:28:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T20:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2026-06-15T15:20:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T15:20:49","slug":"5-common-mistakes-foreigners-learning-german-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/5-common-mistakes-foreigners-learning-german-make\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Common Mistakes Foreigners Learning German Make"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps you\u2019re studying German to learn the language before working abroad<\/a>, traveling overseas, or maybe you\u2019re just studying for the fun of it! Either way, you must have learned by now that making mistakes while studying a new language is inevitable –German is no exception. While the embarrassment of making a mistake<\/a> may cause some students to refrain from speaking the language, you should know that each slip-up provides plenty of learning opportunities to improve your language skills. However, it never hurts to take preemptive action: learn these common mistakes students make while studying German to learn what they are and how to avoid them.<\/p>\n

1. Einbrechen and Erbrechen<\/b><\/p>\n

To the English-speakng ear, the difference between these two words seems minimal, causing second-language German speakers to often confuse the two. Einbrechen<\/i> means \u2018break in\u2019 while Erbrechen<\/i> means \u2018vomit\u2019 \u2014it\u2019s easy to see why you wouldn\u2019t want to confuse the two. After all, you don\u2019t want to call in sick to work and say you\u2019re \u2018breaking in\u2019 somewhere; you might scare your colleagues!<\/p>\n

\"???????????????????????????????\"<\/a>Image via <\/i>PhotoPin<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

2. Viertel Vier and Dreiviertel Vier<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Germans are sticklers for punctuality and being on time is a big must if you want to assimilate into the culture in Germany \u2013 which is why you should nip this common mistake in the bud right from the start. These two phrases can be quite confusing with viertel vier <\/i>meaning \u2018quarter four\u2019 but meant to indicate a quarter past three (3:15), and dreiviertel vier <\/i>meaning \u2018three-quarters four\u2019 but meant to indicate a quarter to four (3:45). Who knew telling time could be so complicated?<\/p>\n

3. Mein Freund and Ein Freund<\/b><\/p>\n

Introduce your acquaintance as mein freund <\/i>(\u2018my friend\u2019) and you\u2019re implying you two are more than just friends (there\u2019s a bit of chemistry there, perhaps?). If you don\u2019t want to imply your relationships is more than platonic, introduce your friend as ein freund <\/i>which simply means \u2018a friend.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Photo_2<\/a>Image via <\/i>PhotoPin<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

4. Der and Die and Das<\/b><\/p>\n

Der, Die, <\/i>and Das<\/i>: German\u2019s three genders.Gender is a big deal in German as opposed to English where you don\u2019t worry about assigning gender to anything other than animals and humans. In German everything has a gender, whether you\u2019re talking about a chair, a book, or a TV show and remembering to assign the right gender to each item is vitally important if you want to sound like you know what you\u2019re doing. There are rules for predicting the gender of most German nouns, so be sure to lend extra time to these before you start trying to chat up native speakers!<\/p>\n

5. Sie and Du<\/b><\/p>\n

Many languages feature various modes of speaking depending on the person you\u2019re speaking to or the formality of the situation. German is in fact one of these and learners tend to struggle a lot with conquering this particular aspect of the language. Although sie <\/i>and du <\/i>both technically mean \u2018you,\u2019 they cannot be used interchangeably. Sie<\/i> is the formal and the Du<\/i> is the familiar, so don\u2019t get them mixed up. Considering formality is a big deal to Germans, you\u2019d be wise to master these right away!<\/p>\n

\"Photo_3<\/a>Image via <\/i>PhotoPin<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve got a few common mistakes under control, be sure to cast an eye on the rest of your language studies. Signing up for some excellent language classes<\/a> will ensure you progress further in your language studies. Want to keep your skills sharp? Take a \u00a0free online placement tests<\/a>! With a firm foundation in place and an extensive knowledge of which mistakes to avoid, you\u2019ll be saying Hallo! <\/i>to many years of German language success!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perhaps you\u2019re studying German to learn the language before working abroad, traveling overseas, or maybe you\u2019re just…","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":4670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,700],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-german","category-learning-resources"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2074,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions\/2074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.languagetrainers.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}