Struggling With English to German Translation

Practically everyone who has ever worked as a professional translator knows that English and German share many similarities when it comes to vocabulary. Students of German Translation would agree that this can be both good and bad.

English-speakers who are learning to become German translators need to be aware of this. But often times, beginners make assumptions, and things are actually not at all what they seem. “False friends,” which exist in many languages, are cognates that are false, and having nothing in common with the words you would expect them to mean. Professional translators need to take caution when it comes to false cognates. Moreover, “false friends” or false cognates make translations difficult because they appear to be a familiar word but really have a completely different meaning. Inappropriately using “false friends” in a translation can doom a translator’s career and open customers and companies to huge liability issues.

Between the German and English languages there are literally hundreds of false cognates, and this is because the two languages are so closely related. German and English linguists will tell you that the two languages share many words that sound and appear alike. Brother / Bruder, auto / Auto, house / Haus, glass / Glas, etc. are just a few examples of the numerous true cognates that exist between the two languages. Many such true cognates exist between the German and English languages, and these should be differentiated from the many false cognates between the two languages.

It makes no difference which direction you are translating – English to German or German to English – the process of completing a translation is much easier and faster if the source document contains true cognates. However, translations can go bad when translators do not take care to learn all they can about potential issues with false cognates. No matter whether you call them “false friends” or “falsche Freunde,” these false cognates are something that every translation service professional needs to be aware of to avoid producing a flawed translation.

After (After) the objective (Objektiv) act (Akt) of translation, the target document must be reviewed. In reference to the German words in parentheses, this statement is a good example of how false friends can completely change the meaning of a sentence. For example, the German word, “After” really means “rectum” in English. Similarly, the German word “Akt” means “nude (painting)” in English, and the German word, “Objektiv” really means “camera lens” in English. Similarly, in Medical Translation Services, “Visite” actually means “house call,” or “patient rounds”. True professional medical translators are wary of false cognates like “kosten”, which means to taste.

False friends are also quite common in legal translations, with words like “Jura,” which means “law,” and not “Jury” and many other words which could be mistaken to have a different meaning. Poor German Legal Translation are also full of words like “Akt” (see above for meaning) and “absolvieren,” which means to successfully finish a course.

This list of false friends is certainly not exhaustive of the vast number of words that stump amateur translators. In German, a “Drogerei” is like a drugstore without the medications. Instead, you will find only personal care items such as razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. there. Germans know they must go to the Apotheke to get their prescription medications. If you need a prescription filled, it is called a “Rezept,” but this is different from a receipt, which is a completely different word in German.Finally, we wish to stress once again that if translators ignore the importance of remaining wary of false cognates, their final translation projects, and therefore their livelihoods, could suffer tremendously. Inaccurate translation of false friends can and often does result in lawsuits, lost wages and damage to the reputation of the translator, the agency hiring him/her and the person buying the translation.