Cognates: Your Free Vocabulary

A cognate is a word in two languages that shares a common ancestor. Because English and German are both West Germanic languages, they share thousands of cognates. Some are obvious (Finger = Finger), some need a small mental shift (Garten = Garden), and some follow the consonant-shift rules from the previous lesson.

This is probably the most useful lesson on the site. Learn the patterns below and you’ll be able to guess German words you’ve never studied — and be right more often than you’d expect.

Perfect cognates: identical words

These words are spelled the same (or nearly the same) and mean the same thing in both languages. You already know them.

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Arm	arm	Arm	Identical
Ball	bahl	Ball	Identical
Bus	boos	Bus	Identical
Butter	BOO-ter	Butter	Just pronounce the 'u' as 'oo'
Computer	kom-PYOO-ter	Computer	International word
Finger	FING-er	Finger	Identical
Golf	golf	Golf	Identical
Hand	hahnt	Hand	Identical spelling
Hotel	ho-TEL	Hotel	International word
Hunger	HOONG-er	Hunger	Identical
Instrument	in-stroo-MENT	Instrument	Identical
Kamera	KAH-meh-rah	Camera	K instead of C — German uses K for the hard 'c' sound
Land	lahnt	Land	Identical
Lamp	lahmp	Lamp	Identical
Museum	moo-ZAY-oom	Museum	Identical spelling
Name	NAH-meh	Name	Two syllables in German
Natur	nah-TOOR	Nature	Drop the 'e'
Pause	POW-zeh	Pause	Same word, German pronounces the 'e'
Radio	RAH-dee-oh	Radio	International word
Ring	ring	Ring	Identical
Sport	shport	Sport	German 'sp' is pronounced 'shp'
Taxi	TAK-see	Taxi	International word
Telefon	teh-leh-FOHN	Telephone	'ph' becomes 'f' in German
Wasser	VAH-ser	Water	The t→ss shift

Systematic patterns: predictable shifts

These aren’t random resemblances — they’re rules. Learn a pattern once, apply it to hundreds of words.

Pattern 1: English “-tion” → German “-tion” (pronounced differently)

This is the easiest pattern — it’s identical in spelling! The only difference is pronunciation: English says “shun,” German says “tsee-OHN.”

🔄English "-tion" → German "-tion" (pronounced "-tsee-OHN")

• Nation → Nation
• Information → Information
• Situation → Situation
• Station → Station
• Tradition → Tradition
• Revolution → Revolution
• Emotion → Emotion
• Funktion → Funktion (English: Function)

💡The -tion freebie

Nearly every English word ending in “-tion” has a German equivalent ending in “-tion.” That’s hundreds of words you get for nothing. Just capitalize the noun (all German nouns are capitalized) and pronounce it with “-tsee-OHN.”

Pattern 2: English “-ty” → German “-tät”

🔄English "-ty" → German "-tät"

• University → Universität
• Quality → Qualität
• Reality → Realität
• Electricity → Elektrizität
• Identity → Identität
• Activity → Aktivität
• Majority → Majorität

Pattern 3: English “-y” → German “-ie”

🔄English "-y" → German "-ie" (pronounced "ee")

• Family → Familie
• Harmony → Harmonie
• Theory → Theorie
• Energy → Energie
• Category → Kategorie
• Melody → Melodie
• Democracy → Demokratie

Pattern 4: English “-ous” → German “-ös”

🔄English "-ous" → German "-ös"

• Nervous → Nervös
• Religious → Religiös
• Curious → Kuriös
• Generous → Generös

Pattern 5: English “-al” → German “-al” or “-ell”

🔄English "-al" → German "-al" or "-ell"

• Normal → Normal
• Central → Zentral
• Musical → Musikalisch
• Individual → Individuell
• Official → Offiziell
• Traditional → Traditionell

Pattern 6: English “C” → German “K”

German avoids the letter “C” for the hard /k/ sound and uses “K” instead.

🔄English "C" → German "K"

• Camera → Kamera
• Concert → Konzert
• Compass → Kompass
• Capital → Kapital
• Character → Charakter
• Copy → Kopie
• Correct → Korrekt

Pattern 7: English “-ic” → German “-isch”

🔄English "-ic" / "-ical" → German "-isch"

• Music → Musik / Musikalisch
• Romantic → Romantisch
• Dramatic → Dramatisch
• Automatic → Automatisch
• Historic → Historisch
• Fantastic → Fantastisch
• Organic → Organisch

The consonant shift cognates

These are the deeper cognates — words where the High German Consonant Shift makes them look different, but the connection is clear once you know the rules. (We covered these shifts in the previous lesson.)

t → ss/z shift

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Wasser	VAH-ser	Water	t → ss: Wa[t]er → Wa[ss]er
Essen	EH-sen	Eat	t → ss: Ea[t] → E[ss]en
Straße	SHTRAH-seh	Street	t → ß (ss): S[t]ree[t] → S[tr]a[ße]
Fuß	foos	Foot	t → ß: Foo[t] → Fu[ß]
Weiß	vais	White	t → ß: Whi[t]e → Wei[ß]
Zehn	tsayn	Ten	t → z: [T]en → [Z]ehn
Zwei	tsvai	Two	t → z: [T]wo → [Z]wei
Zunge	TSOONG-eh	Tongue	t → z: [T]ongue → [Z]unge
Herz	herts	Heart	t → z: Hear[t] → Her[z]
Salz	zahlts	Salt	t → z: Sal[t] → Sal[z]
Katze	KAH-tseh	Cat	t → tz: Ca[t] → Ka[tz]e
Sitzen	ZIT-sen	Sit	t → tz: Si[t] → Si[tz]en

p → pf/ff shift

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Pfeffer	PFEH-fer	Pepper	p → pf: [P]e[pp]er → [Pf]e[ff]er
Pfennig	PFEH-nig	Penny	p → pf: [P]enny → [Pf]ennig
Pflanze	PFLAHN-tseh	Plant	p → pf: [P]lant → [Pf]lanze
Apfel	AHP-fel	Apple	pp → pf: A[pp]le → A[pf]el
Schiff	shif	Ship	p → ff: Shi[p] → Schi[ff]
Scharf	shahrf	Sharp	p → f: Shar[p] → Schar[f]
Helfen	HEL-fen	Help	p → f: Hel[p] → Hel[f]en

d → t shift

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Tür	tuer	Door	d → t: [D]oor → [T]ür
Tag	tahg	Day	d → t: [D]ay → [T]ag
Tanz	tahnts	Dance	d → t: [D]ance → [T]anz
Tochter	TOKH-ter	Daughter	d → t: [D]aughter → [T]ochter
Traum	trowm	Dream	d → t: [D]ream → [T]raum
Trinken	TRINK-en	Drink	d → t: [D]rink → [T]rinken
Tief	teef	Deep	d → t: [D]eep → [T]ief
Unter	OON-ter	Under	d → t: Un[d]er → Un[t]er
Bett	bet	Bed	d → t: Be[d] → Be[tt]

th → d shift

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Denken	DENK-en	Think	th → d: [Th]ink → [D]enken
Danken	DANK-en	Thank	th → d: [Th]ank → [D]anken
Dick	dik	Thick	th → d: [Th]ick → [D]ick
Dorn	dorn	Thorn	th → d: [Th]orn → [D]orn
Drei	dry	Three	th → d: [Th]ree → [D]rei
Das	dahs	That	th → d: [Th]at → [D]as
Dort	dort	There	th → d: [Th]ere → [D]ort
Ding	ding	Thing	th → d: [Th]ing → [D]ing
Bruder	BROO-der	Brother	th → d: Bro[th]er → Bru[d]er

k → ch shift

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Machen	MAHKH-en	Make	k → ch: Ma[k]e → Ma[ch]en
Buch	bookh	Book	k → ch: Boo[k] → Bu[ch]
Brechen	BREKH-en	Break	k → ch: Brea[k] → Bre[ch]en
Kuchen	KOOKH-en	Cake	k → ch: Ca[k]e → Ku[ch]en
Woche	VOKH-eh	Week	k → ch: Wee[k] → Wo[ch]e
Suchen	ZOOKH-en	Seek	k → ch: See[k] → Su[ch]en
Sprechen	SHPREKH-en	Speak	k → ch: Spea[k] → Spre[ch]en
Milch	milkh	Milk	k → ch: Mil[k] → Mil[ch]
Ich	ikh	I (pronoun)	Not a direct cognate, but shows the 'ch' sound

💡Reversing the shift

When you see a German word and want to find the English cousin, try reversing: ch → k, d → th, t → d, pf → p, z/ss → t. Example: you see Nacht — reverse t→d and ch→k — you get Nakd… close to Night! (The vowel changed too, but the consonants decode perfectly.)

False friends: words that trick you

Not every similar-looking word means the same thing. These are false friends (falsche Freunde) — words that look like English words but mean something completely different.

German	Pronunciation	English	Memory Trick
Gift	gift	Poison	NOT a present! Gift = poison. A present is Geschenk.
Rat	raht	Advice	NOT a rodent! A rat is Ratte. Rat = advice/counsel.
Chef	shef	Boss	NOT a cook! A cook is Koch. Chef = boss/chief.
Rock	rok	Skirt	NOT music or stone! Rock = skirt.
See	zay	Lake (der) / Sea (die)	der See = lake, die See = sea. Context and gender matter!
Billion	bil-ee-OHN	Trillion	German Billion = English Trillion. German Milliarde = English Billion.
Bald	bahlt	Soon	NOT hairless! Bald = soon. Hairless = kahl.
Bekommen	beh-KOM-en	To receive/get	NOT to become! Become = werden. Bekommen = to get/receive.
Aktuell	ak-too-EL	Current/up-to-date	NOT actual! Actual = eigentlich. Aktuell = current.
Sympathisch	zuem-PAH-tish	Likeable/nice	NOT sympathetic! Sympathisch = likeable/pleasant.

💡Gift vs. Gift

The #1 false friend: German Gift means poison. Think of it this way: in old fairy tales, an evil queen might gift you a poisoned apple. The word comes from the same root as English “give” — it originally just meant “something given.” German kept the darker meaning.

Compound words: German’s LEGO system

German builds new words by stacking existing words together. Once you know the pieces, you can decode words you’ve never seen — and the results are often more logical than their English equivalents.

🔗Word Connection

Handschuh↔Glove

Hand (hand) + Schuh (shoe) = 'hand shoe.' A glove is a shoe for your hand.

🔗Word Connection

Kühlschrank↔Refrigerator

Kühl (cool) + Schrank (cabinet) = 'cool cabinet.' More logical than 'refrigerator'!

🔗Word Connection

Staubsauger↔Vacuum cleaner

Staub (dust) + Sauger (sucker) = 'dust sucker.' Perfectly descriptive.

🔗Word Connection

Flugzeug↔Airplane

Flug (flight) + Zeug (thing/stuff) = 'flight thing.' Compare: Fahrzeug (vehicle) = Fahr (drive) + Zeug (thing).

🔗Word Connection

Schildkröte↔Turtle

Schild (shield) + Kröte (toad) = 'shield toad.' A toad with a shield on its back!

🔗Word Connection

Nachrichten↔News

Nach (after) + richten (to direct/align) = 'things directed to you after they happen.' News!

💡Decoding compound words

The meaning of a German compound word comes from its last part. Everything before it is a modifier. Haustür = Haus (house) + Tür (door) = house door (the door of a house). Türschloss = Tür (door) + Schloss (lock) = door lock. Same words, different order, different meaning. Read compounds right-to-left for the core meaning.

Your vocabulary strategy

Start with the perfect cognates — words you already know — and use them to train your ear on German pronunciation. Then internalize the 5 consonant shift rules, which unlock hundreds of words automatically. Keep an eye out for suffix patterns like “-tion,” “-tät,” “-ie,” and “-isch,” since those are essentially free vocabulary.

The false friends are worth memorizing separately. There aren’t that many, and they’re the ones that actually trip you up. And when you encounter a long German compound word, break it into pieces from right to left. It’s more puzzle than memorization.

You now have a system for recognizing and guessing German vocabulary. The next lesson covers pronunciation, so you can say all these words correctly.