Dutch to English and English to Dutch – 10 False Friends (part I)

What are false friends in language terms? They are words in one language that look or sound like words from another language but which have a different meaning.

Here are some of the false friends I have come across while living in the Netherlands.

acorn

English – fruit of the oak tree, Dutch – means eikel but sounds like eekhorn (squirrel),

actual

English – real or factual (echt, werkelijk), Dutch – actueel - current or topical.

all but

English – almost (nagenoeg), Dutch - not allesbehalve (anything but).

argument

English – a reasoned discussion point and a disagreement or row, Dutch - only reasoned discussion point, (disagreement - twist, ruzie)

baked

English - cooked in an oven: cakes, potatoes etc., Dutch - gebakken means fried.

become

English - to start to be something (worden), Dutch – bekomen can mean many things as well as become: 1) Aanstaan 2) Beterschap krijgen 3) Bevallen 4) Bijkomen 5) Erlangen 6) Gewinnen 7) Herademen 8) Krijgen 9) Ontvangen 10) Uitrusten 11) Vallen 12) Verkrijgen 13) Verwerven 14) Weer tot zichzelf komen 15) Winnen 16) Worden 17) Zich herstellen.

(I leave the English translations to the interested reader!)

blackberry

English - soft fruit consisting of a cluster of soft purple-black ‘beads’ (not black currant), Dutch – braam, not zwarte bes

brave

English – having or showing courage (dapper, moedig), Dutch – (dapper translates in English to neat and well-dressed), (braaf in Dutch translates in English to well behaved).

control

English - the power to make decisions about something and decide what should happen (beheersen),  Dutch – Inspecteren or nakijken (check, review).

competition

English – a contest in sport, business, etc., or, the opposition. Dutch - competitie is only the contest, the opposition would be concurrentie.