Lots of words.

German has had such a heavy influence on English, many words sound like the English
equivalent, "but with a heavy German accent."
Daughter -> Tochter
Son -> Sohn
Night -> Nacht
Thanks -> Dank
New -> Neu
Old -> Alt

Joe Devney, Professional writer and editor, Master's in Linguistics.

Written Feb 9, 2013

These are called cognates, and there are a lot of them because English and German are "sister languages,"
both members of the West Germanic family of languages (along with Dutch and a couple others). That is,
they were once a single language, but the language community split, and the language changed in different
ways over time in the different subgroups. The cognates are more likely to be basic words, ones that would
have existed before the split. One example I used in a linguistics class was the title of a religious song:
"Mein Gott ist Gut." Four words, four cognates with English words, "My God is Good."
Sometimes a change in how words are pronounced can change large numbers of words at once, making
new cognates. For instance, the final /d/ in German is always pronounced like /t/. That single rule change
explains both God/Gott and good/gut.

Klaus Kaufmann, writer; native speaker; studied German

Written Apr 23, 2013

When pointing out the similarity between English and German I always use my arm and point to
'Nail/Nagel' 'Finger' 'Hand' 'Arm' 'Shoulder/Schulter'...
And, yes, there's butter = Butter, margarine = Margarine.

Ed Smith
Updated Jun 6, 2012

Ding -> Thing. There was some sort of phonetic shift from D in German to Th in English, so there are
quite a few like this. E.g. Denk -> Think, Diese -> These, Dick -> Thick/Fat, Denn -> Then, Durstig ->
Thirsty, Dorn -> Thorn, Daumen -> Thumb

Which words in English and in German are spelled identically, but

mean something different?

Jens Wuerfel, native German speaker, writer, filmmaker but addicted to English
Updated Jan 17, 2012

German word -> English translation:

After -> anus

Art -> kind, sort
Bake -> beacon
Bank -> bench (also "bank")
bar -> in cash
Boot -> boat
dick -> thick, fat
fasten -> to fast
Gift -> poison [my favorite one!]
gross -> big, large
Hose -> trousers
Hut -> hat
Kind -> child (and Kinder -> children)
Land -> country, a state in a federal republic
List -> ploy, subterfuge
log -> (he or she) lied [beautiful, isn't it?]
Made -> maggot
Most -> cider
Not -> distress
nun -> now
Puzzle -> jigsaw puzzle
Rock -> skirt
See -> lake
spiel -> game, play
spring -> jump!
still -> silent
Speck -> bacon
Strand -> beach
Teller -> plate
Tier -> animal
Wand -> wall

Thanks to Jeremy Miles for edits and additions.

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Patrick Bell, I've taken six years of formal instruction in German, and traveled extensivel...
Written Jun 29, 2013

I think you're looking for "false cognates."

Here are a few to ponder:
Fabrik - Factory
Fotograf - Photographer
Gully - Storm Drain
Herd - Range, Stove, Oven
Kaution - Deposit, Bail
Lokal - Pub or Inn
Mist - Manure
Pension - Guest House
Sekt - Sparkling Wine
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Andrew Russell, Long time student of German language and literature, currently living in Germany
Written Feb 6

There are so many to elaborate on here, but I will try to fill in a few of the ones that I have not already seen
mention (and ones that Germans tend to use a lot when speaking English, thinking they are English loan
words)
German - English
Smoking - tuxedo
Beamer - projector (in English beamer would be slang for a BMW, ironically enough)
Handy - cell phone
Box - speaker
tramp (from verb "trampen") - hitchhike
These are the ones that my German friends seem to use the most when speaking English, assuming they
are English words (they often are, but just not in the same meaning they expect). :) Perhaps "public
viewing" is another one: it is English, but whereas in Germany it refers to a public event where lots of
people may get together to watch a game of football, in places like the USA it would mean the viewing of a
deceased person before their burial. Quite different meanings despite clearly coming from English.
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Kelly Martin, Five years of studying German in school; can identify German words sometimes

Written Dec 11, 2015

The false cognate that will always stick with me was part of a tale told by a fellow student who had been
part of an exchange program from the US to Germany. He and his fellow students had just arrived in their
host village, which was in a mountainous region, and the valley in which the village lied was cloaked in
mist that morning, presenting a gorgeous vista. This student, feeling eloquent, attempted to express his
admiration for the view in in his hopelessly American-colored German: "Das Tal liegt im Mist".
"Mist", in German, means "manure".
The word he was searching for, of course, is "Nebel".
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Griffin Na, Started learning over 20 languages, but content myself with 3.
Updated Dec 11, 2015

Im surprised that no-one as yet has included "Handy!"

DE - (noun) A mobile phone
ENG - (adj) useful
One might argue that a mobile device is handy, but not when you have 'kein netz' or your 'akku ist leer.'
edit : Ive also remembered a recruitment drive by an islamic group in Germany that was badly conceived.
In an effort to spread the holy truth to men of middle eastern descent Qurans were being passed out with
the cover titled "Read!" Printed in german the title read "Lies." Freudian faux pas...
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Philipp M. W. Hoffmann
Written Feb 16, 2014

I found out recently, that pathetic isn't equal to the german pathetisch, even though they sound and are
spelled similar.
Pathetisch means something like "loaded with pathos", contrary to pathetic which means "something
has to be pitied".
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Tilman Ahr, Berliner, trained Chef, ex-Student of history and engineering

Written Sep 13, 2014

Another example that made for a funny anecdote:

Bad means (among other things) bathroom in German.

There is a shop selling bathtubs, tiles and the like in Berlin which has a large sign advertising Bad
Design. It's always good for a laugh with non-natives.
As far as I know, they don't actually design unusually ugly bathrooms, though
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Alexander H. Stebner, language lover, software developer - on my way to connect those two
Written Feb 17

"Die Bart, Die!" - "the beard, the."

Although to be correct, beard is a masculine noun and it should be "Der Bart".
However it might mean something like "She over there, Bart, it's her!"
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Klaus Kaufmann, writer; native speaker; studied German

Written Apr 23, 2013

We used to get a kick out of calling the famous Germany U-boat movie: "Das Boot' (the boot (hiking shoe)
instead of 'the boat'!) There are many such words that are spelled the same and have different meanings.
The best example I always thought was the German native in a restaurant in London/UK ordering a steak
and then getting irked by having to wait for too long for his meal to arrive, saying to the waiter, "When
shall I become my steak?" [become is similar to the German 'bekommen' which however translates into
'get'], to which to waiter answers aptly, "Never, I hope, Sir!"
There are also the famous bloopers ascribed to former Germany President Luebke, such as 'equal it goes
loose' (Gleich geht's los!), I'm heavy on wire (Ich bin schwer auf Draht', etc.
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Shefaly Yogendra, Speak several (Indian and European) languages but no semitic, tonal or charac...
Written Jun 27, 2013

Gift - poison in German

Rat - advice in German
Rot - red in German
Heft - notebook in German
Tag - day in German
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Livia Mihai
Written Feb 5, 2014

Will -> want (Ich will gehen means I want to go, not I will go)
Ausfahrt -> exit (I know it's not exactly what you asked for, but it's funny)

Extra languages for Gift: English = present; German = poison; Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
= poison (noun) AND married (adjective)
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Andy Cheung, I live in New York, an island off the coast of Europe.
Written Aug 25, 2011

Bier.
In German, it's a beer.
In English, it's a coffin stand.
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Ankur Mehrotra, perpetually under construction

Written Sep 17, 2013

Ah, there are more...and some really odd ones.

Dick - I am sure what it means in English, in German it means thick or fat.
Hell - The purgatory in English, but it means Bright in German
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Jan Leadbetter, Mancunian

Written Jun 27, 2013

Mutter - means mother in German

Tier - means animal in German
Links - means left in German
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Mike Wilhelm, I study leopards, and don't kill them.

Updated Sep 17, 2013

While the spelling looks the same on some of these words, the pronunciation differs on quite a few of
them:
elf - eleven
mitten - in the middle
dies - this
toll - great
stark - strong
hell - bright
gut - good
was - what
tot - dead
falls - if
fort - away, gone
bald - soon
bunt - colorful
fast - almost
leer - empty
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Steve Massey, just a programmin' man

Updated Jan 27

arm -> poor

also -> so, thus
bang -> frightened
Dose {f} -> can
Fink {m} -> finch
Funk {m} -> radio
Mist {m} -> shit or dung
Sense {f} -> scythe

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Stephen McInerney, I speak several languages

Updated Jun 29, 2013

Mist -> shit (as Steve Massey and Rose Weisburd noted). There was the legendary branding
debacle of the liqueur Irish Mist in Germany (in the 1980s?).Confusingly, Irish Mist is a
brown-colored whiskey liqueur.

bekommen -> get (as Klaus Kaufmann notes, this gives us the beloved tourist question: "I
become a ham sandwich?")
Kaffee -> coffee, not cafe, which is Kaffeehaus (or, more commonly, Cafe)
arm (adj.) -> poor
reich (adj.) -> rich
See -> sea
Stock -> stick
Stuck -> piece
Stadt -> city but Staat -> state but Bundesland -> (federal) state
Tee -> tea
aktuell -> current
fast -> almost
Gummi -> rubber (as in condom, not Gummi Bear candy). Can cause embarrassment at the
corner store
the last one from: Mist! Common false friends in German (English/German)
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Joey Lavoie, Freelance Sound Guy (Film/TV)

Written Aug 25, 2011

Die!
German to English translation: The!
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Emily Kaufman, Distributing GlutenTox in N. America - gluten detection kits for home and ind...
Written Aug 25, 2011

will -> want

schmuck -> well, technically the translation is Yiddish, not English. But it certainly doesn't mean jewelry.
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Neil Highnam, Lived in Germany since '98 and don't have a beer belly.
Written Sep 21, 2015

This may come in handy (Handy = cellphone):

Spanner = voyeur
Angel = fishing rod
Bald = soon

Art = type, kind (of)

And, a slightly different spelling:
Fagott = basoon
Glad to give some advice (Rat)
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Ravi Thatte, macht Spa...

Written Aug 18, 2012

Not quite the right answer but every Tuesday, the display on my German day/date watch says 'DIE'!
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Rose Weisburd
Written Nov 2, 2011

Mist -> manure/dung

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Pranav Singh, Dazed and Confused

Written Jun 28, 2013

die Angel - hinge/fishing rod in German

das Bad - bathroom in German
das Handy - mobile phone in German
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Eugenio Gattinara
Written Jan 1

The original question is:

Which words in English and in German are spelled identically, but mean something different?
My answer:
English German
Bin
(Ich) bin, I am
War
(Ich) war, I was
Lose
Lose, loose

Brief
Fall

Brief, letter
Fall, case, instance

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John S. Thomas, C1, autodidaktisch

Written Jul 26, 2014

Many good answers here, I'm surprised nobody listed this one:
(german) Christ =(english) Christian
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Jerker Karlsson, software developer

Written Aug 30, 2011

rot -> red

Tag -> day