This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within The false friends bank (Gift, bekommen, also, Rat) for GCSE German. Revise The false friends bank (Gift, bekommen, also, Rat) in Reading and Translation into English for GCSE German with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 4 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
💡 Exam Tips & Common Errors
- Never translate a German word just by how it looks in English — always check whether the context makes sense.
- The most common AQA traps: Gift, bekommen, also, Rat, fast, der/die See, sensibel, eventuell, aktuell.
- The article on See is the deciding clue: der See = lake; die See = sea.
- In multiple-choice questions, AQA puts the false-friend translation as a distractor — always verify against context.
- When you spot a German word that looks English, pause and ask: "Does the English meaning make sense in this sentence?"
❌ Common error: Translating Ich bekomme ein Geschenk as "I become a present."
✓ Correct: "I get / I receive a present." — bekommen means to get or receive, never to become.
Why it costs marks: bekommen is the classic German false friend. "To become" is werden. Translating bekommen as "become" changes the meaning entirely and loses the mark for that segment. This error appears every year in AQA reading and translation tasks.
Practice questions for The false friends bank (Gift, bekommen, also, Rat)
What does 'das Gift' mean in English?
'Ich bekomme ein Geschenk' means which of the following in English?