German vs Swedish: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical

If you already know some Swedish, a large slice of German vocabulary is closer than it looks. The two languages go back to a common Germanic ancestor, so many everyday words line up almost letter for letter: papa and pappa, hund and hund, klar and klar. This page sets such pairs side by side so you can spot the patterns for yourself, then drill them until they stick.

Vocab Voyage turns the list into practice: you see an English prompt and type the German word from memory, with accents forgiven so you can focus on the word itself. Spaced repetition brings each word back just before you would forget it, which is exactly what near-identical pairs need if you want to recall them rather than merely recognise them. Sign up free with an email — no card, no password — and start today.

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German vs Swedish: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical: the list

#EnglishGermanSwedish
1dad papa pappa
2mom mama mamma
3mister herr herre
4son sohn son
5own eigen egen
6order ordnung ordning
7home heim hem
8music musik musik
9clear klar klar
10number nummer nummer
11young jung ung
12free frei fri
13slow langsam långsam
14room raum rum
15stupid dumm dum
16murder mord mord
17strong stark stark
18coffee kaffee kaffe
19role rolle roll
20picture bild bild
21absolute absolut absolut
22president präsident president
23thing ding ting
24dog hund hund
25wonderful wunderbar underbar
26half halb halv
27list liste lista
28war krieg krig
29class klasse klass
30interesting interessant intressant
31cold kalt kall
32control kontrolle kontroll
33price preis pris
34doctor Doktor doktor
35fantastic fantastisch fantastisk
36funny lustig lustig
37to treat behandeln behandla
38camera kamera kamera
39pistol pistole pistol
40group gruppe grupp
41glass glas glas
42stone stein sten
43blue blau blå
44often oft ofta
45green grün grön
46nervous nervös nervös
47address adresse adress
48exact exakt exakt
49bomb bombe bomb
50game spiel spel
51eternal ewig evig
52contact kontakt kontakt
53colleague kollege kollega
54hungry hungrig hungrig
55medicine medizin medicin
56army armee armé
57breast brust bröst
58aunt tante tant
59exciting spannend spännande
60program programm program
61energy energie energi
62paper papier papper
63interest interesse intresse
64art kunst konst
65fresh frisch fräsch
66fat fett fet
67special speziell speciell
68photographs fotografien fotografi
69nature natur natur
70private privat privat
71vampire vampir vampyr
72magic magie magi
73project projekt projekt
74line linie linje
75cheap billig billig
76point punkt punkt
77article artikel artikel
78trade handel handel
79pound pfund pund
80demon dämon demon
81universe universum universum
82style stil stil
83official offiziell officiell
84inspector inspektor inspektör
85client klient klient
86lesson lektion lektion
87pink rosa rosa
88copy kopie kopia
89alcohol alkohol alkohol
90public öffentlich offentlig
91jew jude jude
92kiss kuss kyss
93american amerikaner amerikanare
94positive positiv positiv
95political politisch politisk
96pill pille piller
97mouse maus mus
98package paket paket
99assistant assistent assistent
100agents agenten agenter
101laboratory laboratorium laboratorium
102dark dunkel dunkel
103text message sms sms
104treatment behandlung behandling
105imagination fantasie fantasi
106local lokal lokal
107expert experte expert
108series serie serie
109identity identität identitet
110reaction reaktion reaktion
111account konto konto
112tip tipp tips
113negative negativ negativ
114party partei parti
115prince prinz prins
116emergency notfall nödfall
117enormous enorm enorm
118figure figur figur
119channel kanal kanal
120rocket rakete raket
121title titel titel
122organization organisation organisation
123gasoline benzin bensin
124sexual sexuell sexuell
125practical praktisch praktisk
126percent prozent procent
127legend legende legend
128romantic romantisch romantisk
129center zentrum centrum
130spy spion spion
131social sozial social
132culture kultur kultur
133concert konzert konsert
134pulse puls puls
135flight flug flyg
136work werk verk
137principle prinzip princip
138chapter kapitel kapitel
139novel roman roman
140cocaine kokain kokain
141candidate kandidat kandidat
142gray grau grå
143activity aktivität aktivitet
144crisis krise kris
145sum summe summa
146virgin jungfrau jungfru
147product produkt produkt
148attractive attraktiv attraktiv
149entrance eingang ingång
150silver silber silver
151banana banane banan
152date datum datum
153politician politiker politiker
154romance romantik romantik
155sound klang klang
156coma koma koma
157complete vollständig fullständig
158circus zirkus cirkus
159central zentral central
160compliment kompliment komplimang
161model modell modell
162october oktober oktober
163tension spannung spänning
164comfort trost tröst
165vodka wodka vodka
166document dokument dokument
167director direktor direktör
168profile profil profil
169motive motiv motiv
170email E-Mail e-mail
171satellite satellit satellit
172cowardly feig feg
173cable kabel kabel
174credit card Kreditkarte kreditkort
175communication kommunikation kommunikation
176discussion diskussion diskussion
177hairstyle frisur frisyr
178motel motel motell
179metal metall metall
180students studenten student
181existence existenz existens
182magazine magazin magasin
183edge rand rand
184electric elektrisch elektrisk
185combination kombination kombination
186hare hase hare
187popular populär populär
188civilization zivilisation civilisation
189sector sektor sektor
190infection infektion infektion
191communist kommunist kommunist
192scandal skandal skandal
193aggressive aggressiv aggressiv
194condom kondom kondom
195brown braun brun
196centimeter zentimeter centimeter
197intelligence intelligenz intelligens
198sheet laken lakan
199civil zivil civil
200classical klassisch klassisk
201january januar januari
202formula formel formel
203gloomy düster dyster
204diagnosis diagnose diagnos
205telegram telegramm telegram
206technician techniker tekniker
207angle winkel vinkel
208credit kredit kredit
209conference konferenz konferens
210conflict konflikt konflikt
211downfall untergang undergång
212allergic allergisch allergisk
213current aktuell aktuell
214instinct instinkt instinkt
215t-shirt T-Shirt t-shirt
216sandwich sandwich sandwich
217decent anständig anständig
218priority priorität prioritet
219february februar februari
220ruby rubin rubin
221competition konkurrenz konkurrens
222ranch Ranch ranch
223religious religiös religiös
224genetic genetisch genetisk
225daddy Papi papi
226mystery mysterium mysterium
227thorough gründlich grundlig
228democracy demokratie demokrati
229federal föderal federal
230historical historisch historisk
231melody melodie melodi
232acute akut akut
233juice saft saft
234discipline disziplin disciplin
235bracelet armband armband
236perspective perspektive perspektiv
237practice praxis praxis
238moral moralisch moralisk
239balloon ballon ballong
240mute stumm stum
241lamb lamm lamm
242biological biologisch biologisk
243dinosaur dinosaurier dinosaurie
244opera oper opera
245corruption korruption korruption
246autograph autogramm autograf
247scholarship stipendium stipendium
248terrorism terrorismus terrorism
249homosexual homosexuell homosexuell
250immunity immunität immunitet
251alliance allianz allians
252falcon falke falk
253tequila Tequila tequila
254dynamite Dynamit dynamit
255sherry Sherry sherry
256microphone mikrofon mikrofon
257past vergangen förgången
258israeli israelisch israeliska
259colony kolonie koloni
260flame flamme flamma
261photographer fotograf fotograf
262poetry poesie poesi
263fashion mode mode
264therapist therapeut terapeut
265effective effektiv effektiv
266debate debatte debatt
267active aktiv aktiv
268grenade granate granat
269picnic picknick picknick
270tactics taktik taktik
271noble edel ädel
272flat platt platt
273jeep jeep jeep
274diet diät diet
275marijuana marihuana marijuana
276empire imperium imperium
277stadium stadion stadion
278concept konzept koncept
279volcano vulkan vulkan
280financial finanziell finansiell
281dramatic dramatisch dramatisk
282structure struktur struktur
283perfume parfum parfym
284financing finanzierung finansiering
285criticism kritik kritik
286cart karre kärra
287concentration konzentration koncentration
288lobster Hummer hummer
289literature literatur litteratur
290creative kreativ kreativ
291intact intakt intakt
292greedy gierig girig
293shark hai hai
294arrogance arroganz arrogans
295presentation präsentation presentation
296classic klassiker klassiker
297electronic elektronisch elektronisk
298function funktion funktion
299workplace arbeitsplatz arbetsplats
300vice president vizepräsident vicepresident

Tips

Frequently asked questions

Are German and Swedish words that look alike always safe to use, or can they be false friends?

The pairs on this page were chosen because the German and Swedish words share the same English meaning, so you can rely on the ones listed here. Elsewhere, close spelling is no guarantee of a matching meaning, so treat a new lookalike as a hint worth confirming rather than a certainty.

Do I need to already speak German or Swedish to use this list?

No. The pairs are written for learners who know some grammar in either language and want to see how the vocabulary maps across, and you can drill the German side on its own in Vocab Voyage even if you have never studied Swedish.

How does spaced repetition help with near-identical word pairs like these?

Because the German and Swedish forms sit so close together, they are easy to blur after a single glance. Spaced repetition brings each German word back for active recall at growing intervals, so you have to type it from memory instead of just recognising a familiar shape.

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