False Friend: Eventually vs Eventuell

This week’s False Friend takes us back to my time as a college student in the United States. A freshman in college, I had the opportunity to share the entire floor with some of the coolest student colleagues on campus. This featured a hocky player with a passion for music, a party type who loved rap music, a Jesus Freak who loved Christian music, his high school friend who enjoyed accapella music, a guitarist who loved rock music, a true musician, and a pilot named Patrick, who lived for flying with a spice of choir music. These are just to name a few of the best. 😉

Patrick owned a charter plane and from time to time, he shuttled us from our college to our hometowns for the price of gas for the plane. That ranged from between $30 and $100, pending on the distance. The travel time by plane was only a sixth of the travel time by car. For example, a trip from Fargo to Worthington in Minnesota was 5-6 hours. By plane you needed only one hour. That was quick for a flight! 🙂

Yet Patrick also got some of us lost along the way, and hence the slogan: “Pat’s Airlines: We’ll Get You There- Eventually!”

Eventually is today’s topic, especially as we have a false friend Eventuell.

Eventually may be mistaken for Eventuell, for some may perceive this as: Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly, etc. However, Eventually has to do with the meaning “In the End.” Similar meanings include Finally, Lastly, and anything that has to do with final.

Only Eventuell fits to the English equivalent of Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly, etc.

There are some video examples that explain the false friend pairs even further. Sellers Language School has an example for you:

And that explains the reason why Patrick is still in the airline business, albeit part time, as his full time profession is:

You name it- Musician! 🙂

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Check out the Language Corner for some cool topics on English and German grammar, and especially the Pocket Guide to False Friends, as the answers to the two previous Guessing Quizzes are now available for use. Plus there are more items of interest if you want to know more about the false friends pairings in English and German Click on the bold blue headings for each and enjoy! 😀

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Note: While the adventures were indeed true, the names of the people in this story and the hometown of this author have been changed to protect the identity of those involved.

False Friends Activities Part 3- ANS

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

In our next set of False Friends on Friday, we look at everything that has to do with medicine. During a class with some college students, we found a few false friends in English and German where we figured would be useful to learn, especially as some of the German words that exist come from the English, yet the meanings between the pairs are different, at least in some cases.

How different are these medical terms in German and English and which ones are the same? Let’s find out.

Here are the answers to the Guessing Quiz that was posted last week!

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Activity 1 Determine whether these pairs are true friends or false friends. If they are false, explain why.

The Answers to the green-highlighted word pairings are in white.

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Hospital  <=> Hospital 

> True Friend  Germany used the term Hospital in the 19^th Century yet Krankenhaus is a more commonly used term today.

Ambulanz <=> Ambulance 

> False Friend: Ambulance- Krankenwagen; Ambulanz- Outpatient Unit of a Hospital

Rezept <=> Recipe 

>  False Friend:  Rezept- Prescription (from the doctor); Recipe- Rezept im Sinne von Zutaten für ein Essen

Krank <=> Crank 

>  False Friend: Krank- Not feeling well; Crank- give bend to sth., but also a meth.-drug

Medikament <=> Medication

> True Friend

Physiker <=> Physician  

> False Friend: Physiker- Physicist; Physician- Hausartz

Medizin <=> Medicine

> True Friend

Psychisch <=> Psychological

> True Friend

Chemiker <=> Chemist

>  True Friend as long as it has nothing to do with Apotheke!

Krankenbett <=> Sickbed

>  True Friend except Krankenbett is more for Hospital Bed and Sick bed is general

Bandage <=> Bandage

>  True Friend

Tablett <=> Tablet

> False Friend: Tablett- Tray; Tablet is the same as Pille

Binde <=> Binder

> False Friend: Binder- Ordner; Binde- Bandage

Operation <=> Operation

> True Friend, however- Operation (D) solely for surgery while Operation (EN) can also be for military operation or anything with movement.

Injektion <=> Injection

> True Friend

Odd Man Out: Look at the picture, and find out which one(s) are the odd man out. Please note that all but one set have two correct answers.

The right words are marked in yellow;

the odd man out in red.

1.

Perscription

Recipe

Receipt > Means Quittung or Beleg

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2.

Chemist

Pharmacy

Drug Store Market

Note: Chemist (UK) and Pharmacy (USA) are the same as Apotheke, whereas Drug Store Market is similar to Drogerie, like Rossmann and DM

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3.

Crank

Sick

Ill

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4.

Medicine

Medication

Meditation

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5.

Pill

Tablet

Enhancement

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Guessing Quiz: What is understood as a Remedy? Make a list of examples.

ANS: Remedy has several meanings but the most important are the following:

1. Medicine or Treatment for illness, disease or injury
2. To set right to a problem that exists
3. The margin within which coins as minted may differ from the standard fineness and weight.

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Hope the answers and explanation helps. In case there are some discreptencies, questions, etc., please feel free to comment either via direct mail or in the comment section at the end of this article.

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Be sure to check out the Pocket Guide to False Friends in the Files. Click on the link and check them out. Some exercises are also included. Useful for classroom use or to learn at home.

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False Friends Activity Part 2-ANS

After providing you with some activities pertaining to False Friends Part 2 (see link here), here are the answers to the following exercises below. In case of any questions, etc., please feel free to send a message or comment at the bottom of the article.

True or False:

Answers in Green

Determine whether these words can be translated one-to-one from German into English

Bowl <-> Bowle:

False Friend: Bowl means Schüssel, while Bowle is punch with alcohol. More on that can be found here.

Ambulance  <->  Ambulanz

False Friend: Ambulance means Krankenwagen, whereas Ambulanz is Outpatient Unit of a Clinic/Hospital

Audience <-> Audienz

True Friend

Angst  <->  Angst

True Friend, they both mean fear and anxiety

Billion <-> Billion

False Friend. Billion (EN) means Milliarden while Billion (D) means Trillion

Casino <-> Kasino

True Friend except Kasino can also mean a cafeteria or a meeting house.

Bureau <-> Büro

False Friend. Bureau means agency whereas Büro means office.

Comfortable <-> komfortabel

False Friend. Comfortable means bequem, in the sense of relaxing. Komfortabel is similar to luxurious, homey and convenient

Consequence <-> Konsequenz

True Friend

Correct <-> korrekt

True Friend

Critic <-> kritik

False Friend: Kritik means making criticism (criticize) about sth.; Critic is a person who judges something in writing or in a broadcast.

Dome <-> Dom

False Friend: Dome is Küppel, while Dom means Cathedral

False <-> falsch

True Friend

Foul <-> faul

False Friend: Foul means a violations of rules in a game; Faul is either lazy or something fishy/ unusual/ perplexed.

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Sentence comparison:

What is the difference between the German and English sentences?

Answers in Green!

You smoke? Brad also smokes.

Also: Auch

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Also, wollen wir mit dem Rauchen aufhören? Es ist sowieso ungesund.

Also: Well, OK

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Action is needed to curb the cyber-bullying in the schools.

Action: Maßnahmen

Spendenaktion ist jetzt im vollen Gang, um die Obdachlosen zu helfen.

Aktion: Campaign (in this case)

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I find this act you did at the bank to be disgraceful.

Act: Handlung (in this case)

Dieser Akt, eine Nacktfoto im Internet zu erstellen, ist nicht anpassend.

Akt: Act (in this case)

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An example of how the cafeteria will be renovated can be seen on the bulletin board.

Example: Beispiel

Ein Exemplar über den Umbau des Kafeteriens befindet sich im Büro.

Exemplar: Copy

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When Sentences can go really bad.

Martin Quickborn, a detective from Hamburg, is writing a letter to the city government describing how budget cuts are hurting the police force. Yet, his Denglisch unfortunately got into the way. Can you identify the mistakes and change them to make sense in the context?

Answer in white

Ich bin mir sicher, dass Sie familiar mit der actualen  Situation der Hamburger Polizei, und ich weiß genau Sie versuchen, dass diese Fusion mit der Bremer Polizei die beste Idee ist. Aber ich bin der Meinung, dass dieser Aktion keine Sympathie gewinnen. Außerdem, wäre es fatal für alle Polizisten in beiden Städten. Deswegen ist es sensibel, eine neue transparente Regelung durchzuführen. Es ist der beste Way aus der Crisis zu führen.

I am sure that you are familiar with the current situation with the Hamburg Police Department and I know exactly that you are trying to convince us that merging the Hamburg and Bremen Police Departments is the best idea. But in my opinion, this act will not win any support and this would be fatal for the police officers in both cities. That is why it makes sense to implement new, transparent rules, as it is the best way to lead us out of this crisis.

There may be some variants from this.

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Sentence Construction/ Multiple Choice

Each sentence written is in English but with a German word. Which word would you substitute in English? Answers in bold print

1. Maria Eutin completed her Studium in criminology at the University of St. Gallen. Studies
2.  The flug to Budapest will take off at 8:00pm. Flight
3. I find it genial what you did to Antje with her cigarettes, Tony! Brilliant
4. Don’t eat that apple. It’s giftig! Poisonous
5. Kerstin is fort. She went zuhause a few hours ago. Gone/Has left; Home
6. Dave received a passing note in Calculus. Grade
7. How many oldtimers are traveling through Jena this weekend? Antique Cars
8. How noble of you. You drove my wife to the hospital to help her deliver the baby. Kind
9. I want that objekt. It’s perfect for my dream home! Property
10. Here are the headlines from B5 Actual! (!: B5 is a news radio program of Bavarian Public Radio, Bayrische Rundfunk) News

Hope these answers help. More fun facts about False Friends can be found in the Pocket Guide by clicking here. They include execises, activities and some videos.