Introduction: German Pitfalls
The title of a popular book for learning German is 1001 Pitfalls in German. Unfortunately, there are many more than ten mistakes you can make in German! However, we want to concentrate on the top ten kinds of mistakes that beginning students of German are likely to make.
But before we get to that, think about this: How is learning a second language different from learning a first? There are many differences, but the most significant difference is that with a first language there is no interference from another language. An infant learning to speak for the first time is a blank slate—without any preconceived notions of how a language is supposed to work. That is definitely not the case for anyone who decides to learn a second language. An English-speaker who is learning German must guard against the influence of English.
The first thing any language student has to accept is that there is no right or wrong way to construct a language. English is what it is; German is what it is. Arguing about a language's grammar or vocabulary is like arguing about the weather: you can't change it. If the gender of Haus is neuter (das), you can't arbitrarily change it to der. (See "Mistake 2 - Gender") If you do, then you risk being misunderstood. The reason languages have a particular grammar is to avoid breakdowns in communication.
Mistakes Are Unavoidable
Even if you understand the concept of first-language interference, does that mean you'll never make a mistake in German? Of course not. And that leads us to a big mistake that many students make: Being afraid to make a mistake. Speaking and writing German is a challenge for any student of the language. But the fear of making a mistake can keep you from making progress. Students who don't worry so much about embarassing themselves end up using the language more and making quicker progress.
Okay, now let's look at the first five mistakes made by beginners in German:
German Mistake 1: Thinking in English
As we discussed in Part 1, it's only natural that you'll think in English when you begin to learn German. But the number one mistake made by beginners is thinking too literally and translating word-for-word. As you progress you need to start to "think German" more and more. Even beginners can learn to "think" in German phrases at an early stage. If you keep using English as a crutch, always translating from English to German, you're doing something wrong. You don't really know German until you start to "hear" it in your head! German doesn't always put things together like English. - A related problem could be called "The Misuse of the English-German Dictionary." Don't just take the first word you find. See our dictionary tips below for more.
German Mistake 2: Gender
While languages such as French, Italian, or Spanish are content to have just two genders for nouns, German has three! Since every noun in German is either der, die, or das, you need to learn each noun with its gender. Using the wrong gender not only makes you sound stupid, it also can cause changes in meaning. Yes, I know it's aggravating that any six-year-old in Germany can rattle off the gender of any common noun, but that's the way it is. But there are ways to predict the gender of many nouns in German, as we point out in "Gender Hints" below.
German Mistake 3: Case
If you don't understand what the "nominative" case is in English, or what a direct or indirect object is, then you're going to have problems with case in German. Case is usually indicated in German by "inflection": putting different endings on articles and adjectives. When der changes to den or dem, it does so for a reason. That reason is the same one that makes the pronoun "he" change to "him" in English (or er to ihn in German). Not using the correct case is very likely to confuse people a lot!
German Mistake 4: Word Order
Another term for "word order" is syntax. German syntax is more flexible than English syntax and depends more on case (see Mistake 3) and case endings for clarity. In German, the subject may not always come first in a sentence. In subordinate (dependent) clauses, the conjugated verb may be at the end of the clause.
German Mistake 5: 'Sie' and 'du'
Almost every language in the world—besides English—has at least two kinds of "you": one for formal use, the other for familiar use. English once had this distinction ("thou" and "thee" are related to German "du"), but for some reason it now uses only one form of "you" for all situations. This means that English-speakers often have problems learning to use Sie (formal) and du/ihr (familiar). The problem extends to verb conjugation and command forms, which are also different in Sie and du situations.
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