Enrique Bracamonte

Pairs of Words That May Be Confused in the German Language

People who are learning German repeatedly can make peculiars errors. Often, the structures and words of the mother tongue, are what make you to make mistakes.

The language is alive and German too. Some rigid rules are disappearing on the use of a modern language. In recent years there has been a spelling reform in the German language and the examples given here, are in line with this reform. It is true that the fence in the German language is high, but not so high that it can not be exceed.

I would like to offer you some examples of some pairs of words and concepts of German everyday life, with short explanations and comments for use in this language. It's about being conscious about pairs of words and grammatical phenomena, that during the learning of grammar, can be difficult and often confused.

And here are some examples:

Interessant / interessiert. Interesting / interest
Laura hört interessiert dem Vortrag.  Laura listens with interest the conference.
Laura ist auch sehr interessant. Laura is also very interesting.

Interessant is something or someone for me.
Interessiert is something that interests me greatly.

Land / Land. Country / State
Viele Stadtbewöhner fahren am Wochenende aufs Land.
Many city residents go to the field (country) this weekend.
Frankreich is ein faszinierendes Land.  France is a fascinating country (State).

Land in the first case means the opposite of city. So it makes the difference between country people and city people In the second case Land is a word synonymous with one State.

Laib / Leib. Loaf of bread / body
Herr Müller kauft drei Laibe Brot. Mr. Müller buys three loaves of bread.
Herr Müller kommt zu einem wohlgeformten Leib. Mr. Muller gets a shapely body.

Laib with an a is little and to eat. Mr. Muller’s Leib would not eat a normal person, unless he’s a cannibal.

bischen / bisschen. Rock / low, slight
Soraya mimmt Fari in dem Arm und bischt ihn ein bisschen.
Soraya holds Fari in her arms and rocking slightly.
 
Bisch is a verb meaning to rocking a baby in her arms, while bisschen means a little something.

beide / zwei. Both / two
Hanna hat zwei Freunde. Der eine heisst Georg, der andere Lukas. Beide sind sehr nett.
Hanna has two friends. One is called Georg, another Lukas. Both are very nice.

Beide expresses what zwei have in common.
 
Sie / sie. You / her, they
Sehen Sie die Dame auf der anderen Strassenseite? Sehen Sie nur wie sie Sie anschaut? 
Do you see the lady on the other side of the street? Do you see how she looks at you?

Sie with a capital S = You. And sie with lowercase s = pronoun of the third person feminine singular and third person plural.

Well, these are some examples of pairs of words that can cause errors and be confused. I hope the examples help clarify questions you may have and serve to enrich the knowledge of the German language.

Article Tags: German Language

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