Also see: Confusing German Words.
Homophones in German - Homophone im Deutschen
What is a homophone? It is usually defined as a word that sounds the same as another word, but is spelled differently. English examples include be/bee, him/hymn, or/oar, and to/too/two. German has far fewer homophones than English and many other languages, but it has some well worth knowing about.
Homophones are also a source of puns. The German band Rammstein is noted for its use of homophones in the lyrics for songs such as "Du hast" — which uses the homophones "hast" and "hasst." (See below and Rammstein Song Lyrics for more.)
Most homophones come in pairs, but there are some with three or even four words: Rechte/rechte/rächte - Stadt/statt/Statt - Sie/sie/sie/sieh.
Similar to homophones, there are also homonyms. A homonym is a word that is spelled the same (or almost the same), sounds the same as another word, but has a different meaning. See the sample list below for examples of German homonyms.
Let's begin with some more common homophones in German.
Common German Homophones (Homophone)
Alphabetical, with English meanings
- bis until - Biss bite (der)
- Boot boat (das) - bot offered (v., bieten)
- Bund federation (der) - bunt colorful
- Chor choir, chorus (der) - Korps corps (das)
- das the, that - dass that (conj.)
- fällt falls (v., fallen) - Feld field (das)
- Gäste guests - Geste gesture (die)
- hasst hate/hates (v., hassen) - hast (you) have (v., haben)
- Heer army (das) - her from
- isst eats (v., essen) - ist is (v., sein)
- konnten could (v., können) - Konten accounts (pl. of 'das Konto')
- laichen spawn (v.) - Leichen corpses (pl. of 'die Leiche')
- Leere emptiness (die) - Lehre teaching, apprenticeship, lesson (die)
- man one, you, they (pron.) - Mann man (der)
- Meer sea (das) - mehr more
- nahmen took (v., nehmen) - Namen name(s) (der)
- Rad wheel (das) - Rat advice, council (der)
- rein pure, clean - Rhein Rhine (der)
- seid are (v., sein) - seit since
- Tod death (der) - tot dead
- viel much - fiel fell (v., fallen)
- wahr true - war was (v., sein)
- Waise orphan (die) - Weise way, manner (die)
Common German Homonyms (Homonyme)
Alphabetical, with English meanings
- arm poor - Arm arm (der)
- elf eleven (11) - Elf elf (der)
- Steuer tax (die) - Steuer wheel, helm (das)
- Tau dew (der) - Tau line, rope (das)
MORE > A more extensive list of German words homophones: Homophones in German - Part 2.
MORE > Confusing Words in German
MORE > Confusing Word Pairs in German
MORE > English-German Cognates