German speakers sometimes make the mistake of using wie (as, like, how) instead of als (than), an error that is a bit puzzling for native English speakers. It is hard for us to imagine saying, for example: "I am taller as you" instead of "I am taller than you," but in German this is a fairly common error. The following Yabla English translations reflect the corrections to als:

Also wir geben hier mehr her

So we deliver more here

wie [sic, als] die Lufthansa da in der... in der Businessclass.

than Lufthansa there in the… in the business class.

Captions 45-46, Fluglinien - Niki Air

 Play Caption

... wie [sic, als] wenn man einfach sagt:

... than if you simply say to them:

„Kuck mal, ich hab' dir 'nen ganz gesunden Salat gemacht“.

"Look, I have made ​​you a very healthy salad".

Captions 32-33, Kochhaus Berlin - Kochen mit Kindern

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The German als should be used like the English "than" when showing contrast, as a function word to indicate an inequality between two things:

Ich sage immer, eher mehr Selbstvertrauen als Talent.

I always say, rather more confidence than talent.

Caption 22, Cassandra Steen - Interview

 Play Caption

Wobei man hier eher vom Fallen als vom Fliegen sprechen muss.

Although in this case it would be more accurate to speak of falling rather than of flying.

Caption 5, Abenteuer und Sport - Fallschirmspringen

 Play Caption

Whereas wie is used to relate things that are similar in some way, or to give an example:

Wir haben ein Programm

We have a program

mit Ikonen der Musikgeschichte wie Foreigner oder den Simple Minds

with icons of music history like Foreigner or the Simple Minds

Captions 7-8, Das Tollwood-Festival - BAP und Clueso in der Musik-Arena

 Play Caption

Da sind die besten Firmen der Welt dabei wie Siemens und andere.

The best companies in the world are there, like Siemens and others.

Caption 40, Berlins regierender Bürgermeister - Pläne für 2014

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning:

Search on Yabla German for the words als and wie to find more of the ways these expressions are used in context.
 

In English we are pretty casual about the word “same,” but German makes some important distinctions. Let’s see how. 

Earth has only one moon, so when we say we see the “same” moon, there’s no question. We're talking about one and the same. That’s when, in German, we use the demonstrative pronoun, derselbe (or any of its declensions, which you can see here). In this particular case we have a masculine noun, der Mond in the accusative case, so derselbe becomes denselben:

Wir sehen denselben Mond

We see the same moon

Und wir sind größer, denn die Sterne bleiben stehen

And we are bigger, because the stars stand still

Captions 13-14, Kolkhorst - Der Mond

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

In the next example, we can see that Charlie and Raymond have discovered they are brothers. They have the same parents. Once again, we want derselbe. Der Vater is masculine and is in the accusative case, so it gets denselben. Die Mutter is feminine so it gets dieselbe.

...als Charlie erfährt, dass Raymond und er

...when Charlie learns that Raymond and he

denselben Vater und dieselbe Mutter haben.

have the same father and the same mother.

Caption 23, Theater - Rain Man

 Play Caption

But sometimes we say things are the same when they only appear to be. They may be very similar, or one a copy of the other. That’s when we use gleich or der gleiche. It’s a normal adjective, so it changes depending on gender and case. Below, the speaker describes a recurring event:

Es ist leider noch immer jedes Jahr das Gleiche.

Unfortunately it is still the same every year.

Caption 1, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

 Play Caption

Singer-songwriter Cassandra Steen talks about making mistakes: two separate ones, but of the same kind. You guessed it. It has to be der gleiche!

Wenn Aussagen ignoriert werden.

When statements are ignored.

Wenn der gleiche Fehler zweimal passiert.

When the same mistake happens twice.

Caption 4, Cassandra Steen - Interview

 Play Caption

Note that when we use der gleiche, the article is separate from the word. But when we use derselbe, dieselbe, or dasselbe, the article is connected to the word. In either case, the article to use and the ending of "gleich" or "selb" depend on the gender and case of the noun being modified.

Hopefully you’ve gained some insight on the German way of talking about things that are “the same.” You may never think about the word “same” in the same way again!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Learning suggestion:

More advanced learners will enjoy this explanation, in German, from Spiegel Online Kultur.