Common English mistakes German speakers make, and how to fix them

German speakers usually have strong English — which makes the leftover mistakes stand out more. They follow German grammar, sounds and a famous set of false friends. Transfer, not carelessness, and each one has a clear fix.

The big ones. 1) False friends: "I become a present" (bekommen = get) → "I get"; "I will a coffee" (ich will = want) → "I want"; "actual" (aktuell = current), "eventually" (eventuell = possibly), "chef" (= boss), "handy" (= mobile phone), "gift" (= poison in German — the reverse trap). 2) "Until" for "by" (bis): "I need it until Friday" → "by Friday". 3) "When" for "if" (wenn): "When it rains tomorrow, we stay home" → "If it rains". 4) "Since" with the present tense (seit): "I live here since 2019" → "I've lived here since 2019". 5) Word order — time before place, verb-second: "I go tomorrow to Berlin" → "I'm going to Berlin tomorrow". 6) "Make" for "do" (machen): "make a photo", "make sport", "make homework" → take, do, do. 7) "How do you call this?" (wie nennt man) → "What do you call this?"; "an information" → "some information". 8) "Explain me" → "explain to me"; "I am agree"? No — Germans get that right; but "we see us" → "see you". 9) Sounds: /w/ as /v/ ("vine" for "wine", "vould"), "th" as /s/ or /z/ ("sink", "ze"), and /dʒ/ as /tʃ/ ("chob" for "job"). 10) Final devoicing: "bag" → "back", "have" → "haf", "dogs" → "docks" — keep the voice on at the end; and "bad" vs "bed" (German has no /æ/) — open your mouth wider for "bad".

A list won't fix these; making them out loud and being corrected in the moment will. Airi is built for that: she hears the pattern, fixes the one mistake that matters in her reply, and keeps the conversation going. Speak with her daily and these stop being habits within a few weeks. Free to start, no card.

How to get the most from it

Frequently asked questions