Avoid Common German Mistakes

There are some expressions in German that are often used incorrectly. Here you will learn how to avoid these mistakes.

Expressing Your Opinion

If you want to say that you are right, you say: Ich habe Recht. Many German learners mistakenly say "Ich bin Recht" or "Ich bin richtig." This is wrong. The phrase Ich habe Recht is the correct way to say that what you are saying is true or that you are in the right.

Similarly, you say: Du hast Unrecht, when another person is wrong. Avoid "Du bist falsch" here.

Examples:

• Ich habe Recht. (I am right)
• Du hast Unrecht. (You are wrong)

Asking About the Price

When you ask for the price of something, you use either the verb kosten (to cost) or the verb sein (to be) with an adjective. You cannot use two verbs one after the other.

With kosten, you say how much something costs. You can use quantity words like viel (a lot), wenig (little), zu viel (too much), zu wenig (too little), or nichts (nothing) with it.

Examples:

• Das kostet viel. (That costs a lot.)
• Das kostet nichts. (That costs nothing.)

With sein, you describe whether something is expensive or cheap. You use adjectives like billig (cheap), teuer (expensive), sehr billig (very cheap), or sehr teuer (very expensive) with it.

Examples:

• Das ist teuer. (That is expensive.)
• Das ist sehr billig. (That is very cheap.)

Using the Superlative

The superlative is the highest degree of an adjective. If a noun follows the superlative, you always use a definite article (der, die, das) and not "am".

Examples:

• Du bist die beste Lehrerin. (Lehrerin is a noun - You are the best teacher.)
• Das ist das beste Essen, das ich je gegessen habe. (Essen is a noun - That is the best food I have ever eaten.)
• Sie ist die beste Verkäuferin. (Verkäuferin is a noun - She is the best saleswoman.)

If no noun follows the superlative, you use am.

Examples:

• Mein Auto ist am schnellsten. (My car is the fastest.)
• Mein Pullover ist am schönsten. (My sweater is the most beautiful.)
• Sie ist am klügsten. (She is the smartest.)

An exception is the phrase "Du bist der/die Beste". Although no noun directly follows here, the superlative refers to a person, as in "You are the best person" or "You are the best friend". The noun is mentally present here and is simply omitted.

Examples:

• Du bist die Beste! (for a woman - You are the best!)
• Du bist der Beste! (for a man - You are the best!)

Prepositions for Places

The choice of preposition depends on whether you are going to a city, a country, home, or a store.

Use nach for cities, countries without an article, and for Hause (home).

Examples:

• Ich fahre nach Berlin. (I am driving to Berlin.)
• Ich fliege nach Spanien. (I am flying to Spain.)
• Ich gehe nach Hause. (I am going home.)

Use zu for stores or places you are visiting and whose names you mention.

Examples:

• Ich gehe zu Aldi. (I am going to Aldi.)
• Ich gehe zu Zara. (I am going to Zara.)
• Ich gehe zu Ikea. (I am going to Ikea.)

Expressing Feelings and Well-being

In German, there is a difference between "Ich bin gut" (I am good) and "Es geht mir gut" (I am doing well) or "Mir ist warm" (I am warm).

Ich bin gut means that you are a good person or have a good character. This is not an answer to the question of how you are doing.

If you are asked how you are, you answer: Mir geht es gut or short Mir geht's gut.

Examples:

• Wie geht es dir? - Mir geht es gut. (How are you? - I am doing well.)

When you talk about your body temperature and want to say that you are warm or cold, use Mir ist warm or Mir ist kalt.

Examples:

• Draußen sind 30 Grad, mir ist warm. (It's 30 degrees outside, I am warm.)
• Die Temperaturen sinken, mir ist kalt. (The temperatures are dropping, I am cold.)

The same principle applies to the difference between Ich bin langweilig (I am boring) and Mir ist langweilig (I am bored).

Ich bin langweilig means that you are an uninteresting person.

Mir ist langweilig means that the current situation or activity is not exciting and you are feeling bored.

Examples:

• Der Film ist schrecklich, mir ist langweilig. (The movie is terrible, I am bored.)

These phrases show that the feelings are happening to you, you are not the cause of these feelings.

Talking About Diets

The terms vegetarisch (vegetarian) and vegan (vegan) can be used as adjectives for food or as adverbs for the way of eating. When you talk about a person who eats vegetarian or vegan, use Vegetarier (vegetarian man) or Veganer (vegan man), and Vegetarierin (vegetarian woman) or Veganerin (vegan woman).

Examples for food or the way of eating:

• Die Suppe ist vegetarisch. (The soup is vegetarian.)
• Ich esse vegetarisch. (I eat vegetarian.)

Examples for people:

• Ich bin seit acht Jahren Vegetarier (for a man) oder Vegetarierin (for a woman). (I have been a vegetarian for eight years.)
• Ich bin seit vier Jahren Veganer (for a man) oder Veganerin (for a woman). (I have been vegan for four years.)

Forming the Comparative of Adjectives

In German, most adjectives form their comparative degree with the ending -er.

Do not use "mehr" (more) before an adjective to form the comparative. "Mehr" is already a comparative of the word "viel" (much), and two comparatives next to each other are incorrect.

Examples:

• schön - schöner (not: mehr schön) (beautiful - more beautiful)
• nett - netter (not: mehr nett) (nice - nicer)
• interessant - interessanter (not: mehr interessant) (interesting - more interesting)

The Verb "to complain"

The verb that means "to file a complaint" is sich beschweren, without a "d". The noun for it is die Beschwerde (the complaint).

Examples:

• Ich schreibe eine Beschwerde. (here "Beschwerde" is the noun - I am writing a complaint.)
• Ich beschwere mich beim Kundendienst. (here "beschwere" is the verb - I am complaining to customer service.)

Directional Adverbs

With verbs that express movement, like gehen (to go) or kommen (to come), you need to use directional adverbs that also express movement. Place adverbs like hier (here) or dort (there) describe a fixed location.

Use her or hin for movements:

• Ich gehe hin. (I am going there.)
• Bitte komm her. (Please come here.)

Use hier or dort for fixed locations:

• Ich warte dort. (I am waiting there.)
• Ich stehe hier. (I am standing here.)

"als" and "wenn" in the Past

The choice between als and wenn depends on whether something happened once or repeatedly in the past.

Use als when the action, thing, or situation in the past happened only once.

Examples:

• Als ich ein Kind war, hatte ich viele Freunde. (You were a child only once - When I was a child, I had many friends.)
• Als ich klein war, war alles einfacher. (When I was little, everything was simpler.)
• Ich habe angefangen zu arbeiten, als ich 20 war. (I started working when I was 20.)

Use wenn in all other cases, meaning for repeated actions in the past, or in the present and future.

Prepositions and Articles for Destinations

When you indicate a destination, such as "going to the cinema", you often use a shortened form of a preposition and article. Avoid double articles.

The form im is a contraction of in and dem. So, if you say "Ich gehe im Kino", it means "I am going in the cinema", which is grammatically wrong when you are referring to a destination.

The correct form for the destination "cinema" is ins Kino, which is a contraction of in and das.

Examples:

• Ich gehe ins Kino. (in + das Kino - I am going to the cinema.)
• Ich gehe ins Fitnessstudio. (in + das Fitnessstudio - I am going to the gym.)

If you want to express that you are already at a location, you also use the contracted forms im or in der.

Examples:

• Ich bin im Park. (in + dem Park - I am in the park.)
• Ich bin in der Schule. (in + der Schule - I am at school.)