German cognates offer a reassuring bridge of understanding for English speakers looking to learn German. Cognates are words that have the same linguistic origin and often share a similar meaning. The commonalities shared by German and English cognates make it easy to translate from one language to the other—even if you don’t necessarily speak German!
The overlap between German and English is more extensive than you might expect, spanning everything from everyday English and German nouns to verbs and beyond. This guide will give you tools to identify cognates between English and German, tips on leveraging them to your advantage, and how to avoid common pitfalls with false cognates.
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Why are there so many English and German cognates?
The abundance of cognates between English and German isn’t just a happy coincidence—it’s rooted in their shared linguistic history. Both languages belong to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, and they both evolved from Proto-Germanic to the modern languages we know today.
This common ancestry, along with English influence on German in fields like technology, pop culture, and science, results in many similarities between the two languages. This is why there are so many German cognates in English (and vice versa), and how it makes German easy to learn for English speakers.
The lexical similarity between English and German
Linguists measure the similarity between languages using a concept called “lexical similarity,” which compares overlap in vocabularies. English and German have a lexical similarity of about 60%, which highlights how close the relationship is between them. You’ll want to note that this figure doesn’t suggest that 60% of all words between the two languages are identical; it simply tells us that the majority of words share a linguistic origin. So, while German grammar can differ from the rules governing English grammar, both languages have a widely comparable vocabulary.
For easy reference, this table compares the lexical similarity between English and German compared to a few other languages according to the Database of Contemporary Lexicons:
| Foreign Language | Lexical Similarity With English (%) |
| German | 60 |
| French | 27 |
| Russian | 24 |
| Portuguese | 20 |
English and German noun cognates
Start with what you know by learning 70 German cognates in English shown in the table of nouns below:
| German Noun | English Cognate |
| das Album | album |
| das Alphabet | alphabet |
| das Baby | baby |
| der Balkon | balcony |
| der Ball | ball |
| der Ballon | balloon |
| die Banane | banana |
| der Bär | bear |
| die Bibel | bible |
| der Boulevard | boulevard |
| die Butter | butter |
| der Defekt | defect |
| die Demonstration | demonstration |
| das Design | design |
| der Dezember | December |
| der Elefant | elephant |
| die Elektronik | electronics |
| die Energie | energy |
| der Faktor | factor |
| das Fett | fat |
| die Giraffe | giraffe |
| das Glas | glass |
| das Gold | gold |
| das Haar | hair |
| der Hammer | hammer |
| die Hand | hand |
| die Idee | idea |
| die Identität | identity |
| die Industrie | industry |
| die Jacke | jacket |
| der Januar | January |
| die Jeans | jeans |
| das Kabel | cable |
| der Kaffee | coffee |
| der Kindergarten | kindergarten |
| das Knie | knee |
| der Kuss | kiss |
| die Lampe | lamp |
| der Liberale | liberal |
| die Literatur | literature |
| die Logik | logic |
| die Maschine | machine |
| das Maximum | maximum |
| die Minute | minute |
| der Name | name |
| die Natur | nature |
| das Nylon | nylon |
| das Objekt | object |
| der Oktober | October |
| die Organisation | organization |
| die Panik | panic |
| das Papier | paper |
| der Park | park |
| der Quadrant | quadrant |
| die Qualifikation | qualification |
| die Qualität | quality |
| das Radio | radio |
| der Radius | radius |
| die Reaktion | reaction |
| die Religion | religion |
| der Ring | ring |
| der Salat | salad |
| das Salz | salt |
| der Sand | sand |
| der Service | service |
| die Station | station |
| der Veganer/die Veganerin | Vegan (male/female) |
| die Vegetation | vegetation |
| das Verb | verb |
| das Video | video |
@langwins Common German / English cognates
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Verbs—German to English cognates
This collection of 21 German to English cognates features German verbs that will feel surprisingly familiar to English speakers:
| German Verb | English Cognate |
| addieren | to add |
| analysieren | to analyze |
| backen | to bake |
| beginnen | to begin |
| diskutieren | to discuss |
| enden | to end |
| finden | to find |
| formen | to form |
| hämmern | to hammer |
| hängen | to hang |
| helfen | to help |
| hoffen | to hope |
| imaginieren | to imagine |
| informieren | to inform |
| kommen | to come |
| kontrollieren | to control |
| lernen | to learn |
| quotieren | to quote |
| senden | to send |
| singen | to sing |
| starten | to start |
| stoppen | to stop |
| trinken | to drink |
Adjectives within German cognates
Adjectives make life colorful. Explore 36 English and German cognates that paint a perfect picture of linguistic similarity:
| German Adjective | English Cognate |
| aggressiv | aggressive |
| aktiv | active |
| allein | alone |
| automatisch | automatic |
| bitter | bitter |
| blau | blue |
| brilliant | brilliant |
| direkt | direct |
| dynamisch | dynamic |
| effectiv | effective |
| elegant | elegant |
| exakt | exact |
| extrem | extreme |
| fabulös | fabulous |
| falsch | false |
| frisch | fresh |
| global | global |
| grau | grey |
| intelligent | intelligent |
| intensiv | intensive |
| komfortabel | comfortable |
| korrekt | correct |
| kreativ | creative |
| lang | long |
| massiv | massive |
| negativ | negative |
| neu | new |
| normal | normal |
| oft | often |
| original | original |
| perfekt | perfect |
| praktisch | practical |
| realistisch | realistic |
| regulär | regular |
| rund | round |
| vulgär | vulgar |
How to identify German to English cognates correctly
Recognizing cognates—words that look or sound similar in both German and English and have the same meaning—can be a game-changer for language learners. Here’s how you can determine if a word is a cognate:
- Check for similar spelling. Many cognates have identical or nearly identical spellings.
- Look for shared roots. English is a Germanic language, which means many words evolved from the same source.
- Watch for common prefixes and suffixes. Certain word endings like “-tion” in English often end in the same -tion in German. Other endings will change consistently between cognates, like “-ism” in English translating to -ismus in German as in Imperialismus (imperialism).
- Watch out for Falsche Freunde (false friends)! Not all similar-looking words are cognates. For example, Gift means “poison” in German rather than a present or gift in English. Certainly a mistake you don’t want to make!
False cognates in English and German
Sometimes, two words will look and sound almost identical between English and German, but they won’t mean the same thing. Tricky terms like these are called “false cognates” or Falsche Freunde (false friends). There are many such Falsche Freunde between English and German, so be on the lookout for them!
Here are two examples:
- Ich habe eine Blume für dich. = I have a flower for you.
- Blume sounds like “plume,” but it actually means flower. No feathers here!
- Er liest eine Roman. = He is reading a novel.
- Roman might make you think of the ancient empire, but in German, it means “novel.” He’s reading a book, not studying history!
Don’t be fooled by these 50 false cognates shown in the table below:
| False Cognate (German) | English Translation | English False Friend | German Equivalent |
| aktuell | current | actually | eigentlich |
| also | thus/therefore | also | auch |
| die Art | the kind/type | art | die Kunst |
| das Bad | bath/spa/bathroom | bad | schlecht |
| bald | soon | bald | kahl |
| bekommen | to get/receive | to become | werden |
| blamieren | to embarrass | to blame | beschuldigen |
| der Brand | fire/blaze | brand | die Marke |
| brav | well-behaved | brave | mutig |
| der Chef/die Chefin | boss | chef | der Chefkoch |
| das Etikett | price tag | etiquette | die Etikette |
| eventuell | possibly/potentially | eventually | endlich/schließlich |
| die Fabrik | factory | fabric | der Stoff |
| der Fall | case | fall (autumn) | der Herbst |
| fast | almost | fast | schnell |
| das Gift | poison | gift | das Geschenk |
| herb | bitter/harsh | herb | das Kraut |
| die Hose | pants | hose | der Schlauch |
| der Hut | hat | hut | die Hütte |
| das Kind | child | kind (type) | die Art |
| komisch | strange/odd | comical | lustig |
| die Konkurrenz | competition | concurrence | die Gleichzeitigkeit |
| konsequent | consistent | consequent | folglich |
| kurios | odd/strange | curious | neugierig |
| das Labor | laboratory | labor | die Arbeit |
| der Lack | paint/lacquer | lack | der Mangel |
| das Lokal | pub | local | örtlich |
| die Noten | grades (school) | notes | die Notizen |
| das Objektiv | camera lens | objective | das Ziel |
| der Paragraph | section of a law | paragraph | der Absatz |
| pathetisch | solemn | pathetic | armselig |
| die Pension | inn/small hotel | pension | die Rente |
| die Pest | plague | pest (insect) | der Schädling |
| der Prospekt | brochure | prospect | die Erwartung |
| das Publikum | audience | public | die Öffentlichkeit |
| realisieren | to carry out | to realize | erkennen/begreifen |
| die Rente | pension | rent | die Miete |
| der Roman | novel | Roman | der Römer |
| der Sekt | sparkling wine | sect (religious) | die Sekte |
| der Sender | broadcaster | sender | der Absender |
| sensibel | sensitive | sensible | vernünftig |
| der Smoking | tuxedo, dinner jacket | smoking | das Rauchen |
| spenden | to donate | to spend | ausgeben |
| der Stern | star | stern | streng/hart |
| der Stock | floor (level) | stock | der Bestand |
| der Tag | the day | tag | das Etikett |
| tasten | to feel around for something | to taste | schmecken |
| die Wand | wall | wand (magic) | der Zauberstab |
| das Warenhaus | department store | warehouse | die Lagerhalle |
| winken | to wave | to wink | blinzeln |
Key takeaways for German-English cognates
You’ll find plenty of overlap between German and English, making cognates a fantastic tool for language learners to jumpstart their language proficiency. Here are a few things to remember about English and German cognates:
- Cognates are words with similar roots, look and sound similar, and share the same meaning between two languages.
- German and English have a high degree of lexical similarity due to their shared Germanic roots which results in the two languages having many cognates available.
- Identifying cognates is easier when you look for similar spellings, pronunciation patterns, and linguistic roots.
- Be cautious of false cognates: words that look and sound alike but have entirely different meanings.
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