German vs Romanian: 150 Words That Are Nearly Identical

Some German and Romanian words look so alike that you can guess the translation before you study it. This list gathers pairs with the same English meaning whose German and Romanian forms are identical or only a letter or two apart, like idee and idee, or energie and energie. Seeing them side by side turns an intimidating vocabulary gap into a shortcut.

The overlap exists because both languages carry a thick layer of Latin- and French-derived vocabulary for science, government, and modern life, which is why terms like automobil, program, and diamant travel so easily. German and Romanian sit in different branches of the family tree, so most of these matches are borrowed rather than inherited, but for a learner the effect is the same: spot the pattern once, and a whole cluster of words becomes nearly free.

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German vs Romanian: 150 Words That Are Nearly Identical: the list

#	English	German	Romanian
1	son	sohn	son
2	state	staat	stat
3	idea	idee	idee
4	doctor	Doktor	doctor
5	automobile	automobil	automobil
6	program	programm	program
7	lady	dame	damă
8	pistol	pistole	pistol
9	list	liste	listă
10	energy	energie	energie
11	young	jung	jun
12	extreme	extrem	extrem
13	vampire	vampir	vampir
14	demon	dämon	demon
15	soldier	soldat	soldat
16	excellent	exzellent	excelent
17	reality	realität	realitate
18	point	punkt	punct
19	series	serie	serie
20	director	direktor	director
21	photography	fotografie	fotografiere
22	email	E-Mail	e-mail
23	interesting	interessant	interesant
24	copy	kopie	copie
25	diamond	diamant	diamant
26	fantastic	fantastisch	fantastic
27	nervous	nervös	nervos
28	palace	palast	palat
29	identity	identität	identitate
30	positive	positiv	pozitiv
31	furious	furios	furios
32	bag	sack	sac
33	channel	kanal	canal
34	motel	motel	motel
35	galaxy	galaxie	galaxie
36	political	politisch	politic
37	inspector	inspektor	inspector
38	clear	klar	clar
39	beast	bestie	bestie
40	magic	magie	magie
41	social	sozial	social
42	study	studie	studiu
43	theory	theorie	teorie
44	pirate	pirat	pirat
45	organism	organismus	organism
46	autopsy	autopsie	autopsie
47	daddy	Papi	papa
48	religious	religiös	religios
49	therapy	therapie	terapie
50	rule	regel	regul
51	autograph	autogramm	autograf
52	pink	rosa	rose
53	ruins	ruine	ruină
54	attractive	attraktiv	atractiv
55	company	Kompanie	companie
56	marijuana	marihuana	marijuana
57	fashion	mode	modă
58	perfume	parfum	parfum
59	bandit	Bandit	bandit
60	genetic	genetisch	genetic
61	fan	ventilator	ventilator
62	academy	akademie	academie
63	siren	sirene	sirena
64	tequila	Tequila	tequila
65	category	kategorie	categorie
66	telegram	telegramm	telegramă
67	protocol	protokoll	protocolul
68	intact	intakt	intact
69	satellite	satellit	satelit
70	gallery	galerie	galerie
71	prince	prinz	prinț
72	bizarre	bizarr	bizar
73	flat	platt	plat
74	epidemic	epidemie	epidemie
75	parasite	parasit	parazit
76	capital	kapital	capital
77	jeep	jeep	jeep
78	external	extern	extern
79	convoy	konvoi	convoi
80	lemonade	limonade	limonadă
81	harmony	harmonie	armonie
82	sweater	pullover	pulover
83	female student	studentin	studentă
84	portrait	porträt	portret
85	irony	ironie	ironie
86	variant	variante	variantă
87	reactor	reaktor	reactor
88	institute	institut	institut
89	ranch	Ranch	ranch
90	telescope	teleskop	telescop
91	babysitter	Babysitter	babysitter
92	cobra	kobra	cobra
93	aggressive	aggressiv	agresiv
94	active	aktiv	activ
95	republic	republik	republică
96	artillery	artillerie	artilerie
97	crater	krater	crater
98	experimental	experimentell	experimental
99	sympathy	sympathie	simpatie
100	radioactive	radioaktiv	radioactiv
101	t-shirt	T-Shirt	t-shirt
102	document	dokument	document
103	therapist	therapeut	terapeut
104	lasagna	lasagne	lasagna
105	brutality	brutalität	brutalitate
106	billionaire	milliardär	miliardar
107	parliament	parlament	parlament
108	tractor	traktor	tractor
109	colony	kolonie	colonie
110	lamb	lamm	lamb
111	discipline	disziplin	disciplină
112	anatomy	anatomie	anatomie
113	microscope	mikroskop	microscop
114	scorpion	skorpion	scorpion
115	revolutionary	revolutionär	revoluţionar
116	calorie	kalorie	calorie
117	territory	territorium	teritoriu
118	enormous	enorm	enorm
119	literature	literatur	literatură
120	biological	biologisch	biologic
121	notary	notar	notar
122	mosque	moschee	moschee
123	anarchy	anarchie	anarhie
124	rank	rang	rang
125	heterosexual	heterosexuell	heterosexual
126	strategic	strategisch	strategic
127	fury	furie	furie
128	secretary	sekretär	secretar
129	catalog	katalog	catalog
130	repair	reparatur	reparaţie
131	sea	meer	mer
132	muscular	muskulär	muscular
133	climate	klima	climă
134	asian	asiatisch	asiatic
135	original	originell	originali
136	mythology	mythologie	mitologie
137	puberty	pubertät	pubertate
138	dialect	dialekt	dialect
139	pole	pol	pol
140	trumpet	trompete	trompetă
141	emotional	emotionale	emoţionat
142	stability	stabilität	stabilitate
143	efficient	effizient	eficient
144	disastrous	desaströs	dezastruos
145	meteorite	meteorit	meteorit
146	exclusive	exklusiv	exclusiv
147	porcelain	porzellan	porţelan
148	democrat	demokrat	democrat
149	yacht	jacht	yacht
150	creative	kreativ	creativ

Tips

Watch the -ie ending: German idee, energie, and serie match Romanian idee, energie, and serie exactly, while kopie and copie differ only in the first consonant.
German double consonants often appear single in Romanian, as in exzellent/excelent, interessant/interesant, and programm/program, so try dropping the second copy of a doubled letter when you guess.
German k and z frequently correspond to Romanian c: Doktor/doctor, direktor/director, punkt/punct, kopie/copie, exzellent/excelent.
Endings shift in fairly predictable ways: German realität lines up with Romanian realitate, and German nouns in -e often end in -ă or a bare consonant in Romanian, as in dame/damă, liste/listă, and pistole/pistol.
German capitalizes nouns (Doktor, E-Mail) where Romanian does not (doctor, e-mail); when you type the German answer, accents are forgiven, but still learn the umlaut in words like dämon so your spelling holds up in writing.
Treat a lookalike as a head start, not a guarantee: the listed pair fotografie/fotografiere shows how forms can drift, and similar spelling never tells you the gender, plural, or pronunciation.

Frequently asked questions

Are German and Romanian closely related?

Not closely. German is a Germanic language and Romanian is a Romance language, so their core vocabulary developed separately. The lookalikes here come mostly from shared borrowing, especially Latin, French, and international vocabulary.

Why do German and Romanian share so many similar words?

Both absorbed a large layer of Latin- and French-derived vocabulary, particularly for science, government, and modern institutions. That is why pairs like Doktor/doctor, automobil/automobil, and programm/program ended up so close in form.

Is learning these lookalike pairs enough to speak naturally?

They give you a fast vocabulary boost, but pronunciation, grammatical gender, and small spelling differences still need work. Drill each pair with spaced repetition instead of assuming the shared spelling covers everything.

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