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

If your first language is German, many of your English mistakes are German showing through: its grammar, its sounds and a well-known set of false friends. That is transfer, not carelessness, and each one has a clear fix.

The big ones. 1) False friends: "I become a present" (bekommen = get) → "I get a present"; "I will a coffee" (ich will = I want) → "I want a coffee"; "actual" (aktuell = current), "eventually" (eventuell = possibly), "chef" (Chef = boss), "handy" (Handy = mobile phone), "gift" (Gift = poison). 2) "Until" for "by" (bis): "I need it until Friday" → "I need it by Friday". 3) "When" for "if" (wenn): "When it rains tomorrow, we stay home" → "If it rains tomorrow, we'll stay home". 4) "Since" with the present tense (seit): "I live here since 2019" → "I've lived here since 2019". 5) Time before place: "I go tomorrow to Berlin" → "I'm going to Berlin tomorrow". 6) "Make" for other verbs (machen): "make a photo", "make sport", "make homework" → take a photo, play sports, do homework. 7) "How do you call this?" (Wie nennt man das?) → "What do you call this?"; "an information" → "some information". 8) "Explain me this" → "Explain this to me"; "We see us tomorrow" (Wir sehen uns morgen) → "See you tomorrow". 9) Sounds: "vine" for "wine", "sink" for "think", "chob" for "job". 10) Word endings and one vowel: "bag" comes out like "back", "dogs" like "docks", and "bad" like "bed".

Reading a list is the easy part. Habits like these tend to change through speaking: you say the sentence out loud and a fix arrives while the conversation is still going. That is what Airi is for. You speak, she answers out loud and shows one small fix at a time, so an "until Friday" or an "I become" can be pointed out in the middle of a real exchange. Free to start, no card.

Literal translations from German that sound wrong in English

German and English are both West Germanic languages, so a German sentence translated word for word often comes out almost right. These are the places where the "almost" shows.

One literal translation changes the facts. "Halb acht" is 7:30, but in British English "half eight" is short for "half past eight", which is 8:30. Say "seven thirty" to be safe.

German grammar habits that transfer badly: tenses, word order, articles

• No continuous form. "Ich koche" is both "I cook" and "I'm cooking", so "I cook right now" slips out. An action in progress needs "be" plus "-ing": "I'm cooking right now."
• Present for the future. "Ich rufe dich morgen an" becomes "I call you tomorrow." A promise or a decision made on the spot takes "will": "I'll call you tomorrow."
• Verb in second place. In a German main clause the verb comes second, so after an opening time word it moves ahead of the subject: "Morgen habe ich einen Termin." Carried over, that gives "Tomorrow have I an appointment." English keeps the subject before the verb: "Tomorrow I have an appointment."
• Participle at the end. "Ich habe die E-Mail schon geschickt" gives "I have the email already sent." English keeps the two parts of the verb together: "I've already sent the email."
• Adverb between verb and object. "Sie spricht sehr gut Englisch" gives "She speaks very well English." English does not split a verb from its object: "She speaks English very well."
• Articles. German leaves the article out before a job ("Ich bin Ingenieurin") and uses one before a general idea ("Das Leben ist teuer"). English does the reverse: "I'm an engineer" and "Life is expensive in Zurich."
• Uncountable nouns. "Ratschläge" and "Möbel" are plural in German, so "advices" and "furnitures" slip out. In English both stay singular: "Thanks for the advice" and "We need new furniture."

The English sounds German speakers replace, and how to make each one

Standard German has no "w" as in "wine", no "th" and no vowel like the one in "bad". It also devoices b, d, g, v and z at the end of a word, which is why "Rad" and "Rat" sound the same. The first five rows are contrasts that can turn one English word into another.

German also reduces unstressed vowels much less than English does. In English they shrink: the first syllable of "about" and the last of "sofa" are the same short, relaxed sound, and small words such as "to", "for" and "was" usually get it too.

German-English false friends beyond "become", and pseudo-English words

The last four look English, but English speakers do not use them this way. In English a "home office" is a room, an "old-timer" is an old or long-serving person, and in American English a "viewing" is when mourners see the body before a funeral.

How German speakers can drill these mistakes out loud with Airi

Knowing why you say "I have seen him yesterday" does not stop it from coming out. What helps is saying the sentence out loud and seeing the fix straight after the slip. Airi answers out loud and shows one small fix at a time. She does not score or grade your sounds, so for pronunciation her reply is only a rough check: did she respond to the word you meant? The 600 free credits last about eight minutes of speaking, enough to try two or three of the steps below.

1. Set the target: "German is my first language. Point out when I use 'have seen' with a finished time, or 'would' after 'if'."
2. Tell her about last weekend in order: where you went, who you met, what you ate. Every verb should be in the simple past.
3. Ask for three "What would you do if ...?" questions and answer each with "If I had ..., I would ...".
4. Say one deadline and one duration from your own week: "I'll send it by Monday", "I'm in the office until six." The deadline takes "by"; the duration takes "until".
5. Put the sound pairs into one sentence: "We visited a village west of Vienna." If her answer shows she heard a different word, say it again more slowly.
6. When a small fix appears, say the repaired sentence aloud before you go on. Airi remembers your name and your last topic, so you can pick up there next time.

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Last updated: 2026-10-03