German words you may already half-know

English and German split apart about fifteen hundred years ago, so many everyday words are still the same word underneath. Open this when a word will not stick, and meet three that only look familiar.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Open this if a word will not stick; nothing here is needed to read the story.
German and English are close cousins, so many everyday words are the same word with a different coat.
Several past forms are the English past form with a vowel shifted.
A few words look familiar and are not: willvil means “want”.

You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when a word will not stick, and use whichever connection helps. English and German split apart about fifteen hundred years ago, so the commonest words are often still recognisably the same word.

Words that are the same word, wearing a hat

English and German split apart long ago, so many everyday words are still the same word underneath. The right column says what changed.

German	What changed
WasserVAS-uh“water”	t became ss — the same shift you see in “foot” and Fußfooss“foot”.
Haushowss“house”	Nothing but the spelling.
Mausmowss“mouse”	And both make their plural by changing the vowel: MäuseMOY-zuh, mice.
VaterFAH-tuh“father”	The v says f, so it already sounds like it.
BruderBROO-duh“brother”	Only the vowel moved.
SonneZON-uh“sun”	A weak -e on the end, and the s says z.
Nachtnahkht“night”	English kept the gh in the spelling and stopped saying it. German still says it.
gutgoot“good”	The final d hardens to t.
altalt“old”	Compare English “alderman”, which kept the older shape.

Past forms you can almost guess

These five past forms turn up in the books. Say each one aloud and see whether the English word comes to you.

warvar“was” · kamkahm“came” · sahzah“saw” · fielfeel“fell” · nahmnahm“took”

The first four are the English word with a vowel moved; nahmnahm is the odd one and has to be learned. All five turn up in the books.

Did the connections help?

What does willvil mean?
Show answer +Hide answer −
“Want”. It has nothing to do with the future, and it catches everybody once.
die Nacht
English kept a gh in this word and stopped pronouncing it.
Show answer +Hide answer −
die Nachtdee nahkht“the night”
kam
Show answer +Hide answer −
kamkahm“came”. One vowel away from the English word.

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