False Friends: When Similarity Deceives Us
When we learn a foreign language, especially one that shares its origin with the one or ones we already speak, we encounter words whose meaning, at least seemingly, we can infer. And, in many cases, this is true, as similar words in different languages can have the same meaning. The Spanish word “Familia” translates to "family" in English, "Familie" in German, and "famille" in French, meaning the same in all four languages. These kinds of similarities make life easier for us, don’t they? These are called cognates, words in different languages that share a common etymological origin and are very similar in both form and meaning. But yes, there’s always a "but."
The Spanish word “Familia” translates to “family” in English, “Familie” in German, and “famille” in French, meaning the same in all four languages. These kinds of similarities make life easier for us, don’t they?
From this concept derives that of false cognates or false friends, the latter term (faux amis) first used in the book “Les faux amis; ou, Les trahisons du vocabulaire anglais” (“False Friends or the Betrayals of English Vocabulary”) by Maxime Koessler and Jules Derocquigny, published in 1928. These are words that, while they may have a common etymological origin, evolved in different languages with a different meaning, though they retained their form to some extent, which causes confusion. They can also be loanwords, that is, words that one language borrows from another, but which took on a new meaning during their adaptation or evolution.
Me, bekommen, and become
It’s important to identify these false friends, as they can lead us to convey a very different message than the one we intend. That’s why the subtitle: this is my story with a false cognate between English and German. As a learner of foreign languages, I obviously encounter them myself.
In English, a language I’ve been learning since I was 9 years old, there is the verb “to become,”. In German, a language I started learning as an adult, there is the verb “bekommen,” which in English means “to get” or “to obtain”.. The latter is a verb that is used very frequently in German, so after learning it, it began to interfere with my use of the verb “to become” in English. Yes, at times I’ve used this verb in English intending to convey the meaning of receiving something, which makes no sense at all in English.
It’s important to identify these false friends, as they can lead us to convey a very different message than the one we intend.
Ein Baby bekommen.
The mistakes we make when we misuse a false friend can be not only confusing but also amusing, and this is the case with this expression. In German, to express the concept of “having a baby,” the verb “bekommen” is used. So, if someone says “Ich habe ein Baby bekommen,” they are saying that they had a baby. Now, if someone makes the same transfer error using the verb “to become” in English and says, “I became a baby“… they’ll be saying they turned into a baby.
There are many more examples like the one above of confusion with false friends that can lead to conveying even funny messages, but simply to achieve good communication in the language we are learning, it is necessary to identify these false friends to use them correctly. Below is a list of frequently used false friends between Spanish and English languages.
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“So, if someone says “Ich habe ein Baby bekommen,” they are saying that they had a baby. Now, if someone makes the same transfer error using the verb “to become” in English and says, “I became a baby”… they’ll be saying they turned into a baby. “
Spanish/English
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