There are at least ten German verbs that have unique meanings when connected with lassen ("to let"). Not so very long ago, they were literally connected with lassen in that they used to be written together as a single verb. However, in the last decades, the arbiter of German grammar, Duden, proclaimed that it is preferable grammatically to write the root verbs and lassen as separate words. Oddly enough, rather than subordinating the version with lassen to the main listing for the verb in question, Duden still has them listed in a dictionary single entry -- for two verbs. Thus if you search on Duden for the old spelling of fallenlassen, the first match will be fallen lassen.

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Here are some examples of verbs connected to lassen which in the past would have been written as a single verb, but are now usually separated by a space:

Und als sich der Mond schließlich zeigte,

And when the moon finally revealed itself,

glänzten die weißen Kieselsteine, die Hänsel hatte fallen lassen,

the white pebbles that Hansel had let fall gleamed

wie Silber.

like silver.

Captions 31-32, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Hänsel und Gretel

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Ich bin locker. Wenn ich will, kann ich mich total gehen lassen.

I am relaxed. If I want to I can totally let myself go.

Caption 26, Filmtrailer - Keinohrhasen

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Ansonsten gilt im Zoo weiterhin die Frühlingsdevise:

Apart from that, in the zoo the spring slogan still applies:

einfach mal hängen lassen!

at times simply just let it all hang out!

Caption 48, Rheinmain im Blick - Frühling im Zoo

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Diese Knochen macht dem Greifvogel kein Futterrivale streitig,

No rival will fight the bird of prey for these bones,

deshalb kann er sie ruhig liegen lassen.

so it can leave them well alone.

Captions 46-47, Die letzten Paradiese - Die Schönheit der Alpen 1

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Den Teig lassen wir jetzt fünfundvierzig Minuten ruhen.

We'll let the dough sit now for forty-five minutes.

Caption 33, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte - Bayern

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Und somit hab ich dann alles, was mit Studium und Musik zu tun hatte, erst mal sein lassen.

And with that, I then let everything go that had to do with university studies and music.

Caption 44, Powerfrau - Lina bleibt auf dem Boden

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Sie haben meiner Tochter schöne Augen gemacht und sie dann sitzen lassen.

You made eyes at my daughter and then abandoned her.

Caption 20, Oskar - Gehen, wenn es am schönsten ist - Loslassen

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Man sollte ihn besser für alle Zeiten stehen lassen.

You'd be better off to leave it there for all time.

Caption 35, Piggeldy und Frederick - Regenbogen

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As an added note, there are many other verbs ending with lassen that are still written as one word. Most of them have adjectives or adverbs as prefixes. Go to this link at dict.cc and see many examples.

Further Learning
See if you can guess the meanings of bleiben lassen and fahren lassen and then check a German dictionary to see if you got them right. You can also look for more examples of the above verbs related to lassen on Yabla German.

This poor pun on the first line from Shakespeare's tragedy Richard III was inspired by one of the most commonly mispronounced words of all: the word "mispronunciation." It's ironic that the word "mispronunciation" — with the single "u" between the two letters N in the spelling — should so often be mispronounced as "mispronounciation" (sic). The "ou" in the the verb "mispronounce" is often falsely carried over into the nominalization of the word. The same applies to "pronounce" and "pronunciation," with the latter often being mispronounced "pronounciation" (sic). 

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The German words for "comedy" and "tragedy," die Komödie and die Tragödie, are also commonly mispronounced by non-native German speakers. You may find these two types of dramas referred to fairly often on Yabla German:

Til Schweiger und Nora Tschirner in der schönsten

Til Schweiger and Nora Tschirner in the most beautiful

romantischen Komödie des Jahres.

romantic comedy of the year.

Caption 32, Filmtrailer - Keinohrhasen

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Und das nächste wird dann wieder eine Komödie.

And the next [one] will then be a comedy again.

Caption 75, Schauspielerin - Jessica Schwarz

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Diese Mischung aus Action und Drama-Komödie…

This mixture of action and dramatic comedy…

Caption 91, rheinmain Szene - Selig

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But how do you pronounce Komödie? If you pronounced it according to standard German rules of pronunciation, it would have three syllables and end, like the English "comedy", with the sound "ee". You would, however, in that case be mispronouncing the word. Both Komödie and "comedy" are based upon the original Latin word comœdia, and the German pronunciation rather unexpectedly follows the Latin "ia" ending, so rather than pronouncing the German "ie" as "ee" phonetically, it is pronounced closer to the Latin "ia" as "ee-yeh" phonetically, giving the word four syllables: Ko - mö - di - e. And the same with "tragedy": Tra - gö - di - e. Note too that the accent falls on the second syllable of both words: Komödie and Tragödie.

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Weißt du, es ist eine Tragödie!

You know, it's a tragedy!

Caption 49, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 1: Alle haben sich lieb

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While mispronouncing Komödie or Tragödie may not exactly be a tragedy, if you get it right you can at least avoid being the star of your own unintentional comedy!

Further Learning
Hear the proper pronunciation of the word by listening to the recorded playback of Komödie and Tragödie and practice it a few times out loud on your own. Then go to Yabla German and find different examples of the words being used by native German speakers in a real-world context.

The classic rock band the Beatles played a lot in Hamburg at the start of their career and thus felt it was important to release some of their first recordings in German too. The song "She Loves You" was also released in 1964 as "Sie liebt dich," and you can listen to it here. The expression is also the climax of a classic fairy tale:

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Oh, Biest! Ich liebe dich. Es ist mir egal, wie du aussiehst.

Oh, Beast! I love you. It doesn't matter to me how you look.

Caption 84, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest

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And another classic German expression for being in love:

Ich glaube, ich habe mich in dich verliebt.

I think I've fallen in love with you.

Caption 31, Filmtrailer - Keinohrhasen

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The phrase in sich verlieben is one of the times when the German preposition in has the noun following it in the accusative case. In the Berlin dialect, it is often in the dative case (ich liebe dir, ich bin in dir verliebt), but this is not good High German. Let's stick with ich liebe dich and ich bin in dich verliebt!

Gut' Nacht, mein Schatz. -Ich hab' dich vermisst.

Good night, my precious. -I've missed you.

Caption 3, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 4: Die Trennung

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Der Schatz is a classic German term of endearment, but it also means "treasure." When I lived in Germany as a teenager, I often heard male American soldiers using the dialect version of the word, Schatzi, to accost unfortunate female passers-by. The word "schatzi" is even included in a number of American dictionaries as an acceptable English word, evidence of a relatively recent addition of a German word into English. And of course, if you love someone, you miss them (vermissen) when they are gone.

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Further Learning
Look for further examples of lieben and verlieben on Yabla German and see how they are used in a real world context. P.S. The Beatles also released a German version of  "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as "Komm, gib mir deine Hand"...

You may have come across the phrase “false friends” or “false cognates” (as they are more accurately known) during your language training. So what does it mean? It has nothing to do with disloyal friends, although linguistic false friends can also be treacherous. They are words that sound similar or are spelled identically but have different meanings in their respective language.

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Here are some common German phrases with their English “false friend” below them.

Be careful what aktuell actually means:

German: aktuell – topical, current, up-to-date 

English: actually – eigentlich, tatsächlich, wirklich

Denn eigentlich stammt es aus dem aktuellen Album der Rocksängerin.

Because it actually comes from the rock singer's current album.

Caption 9, Liza - Ein Lied für Opel

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When Germans talk about the imminent future, you may think they're talking about someone's lack of hair:

German: bald – soon

English: bald – kahl

...die olympischen Winterspiele

...the Winter Olympic Games

die bald in Vancouver stattfinden werden.

that will soon take place in Vancouver.

Captions 2-3, Deutsche Sporthilfe - Ball des Sports

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Watch what you give someone on their birthday! 

German: das Gift – poison, venom

English: gift – das Geschenk 

Sein Gift ist vergleichbar mit einem Bienenstich.

His poison is comparable to a bee sting.

Caption 9, Summer Cheergirl - Fotoshooting mit Skorpionen

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If you want to make a marriage proposal to a German, pay attention to how you ask...

German: sich engagieren – to be committed, get involved 

English: to get engaged – sich verloben

Find' ich das immer gut, sich für solche Sachen zu engagieren.

I think [it's] always good to get involved in such things.

Caption 8, Luxuslärm - rockt gegen's Saufen

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The winter is dragging on and spring seems a long way off, but we all know it will come eventually. However, confusing “eventually” with the German eventuell makes spring seem far less likely:  

German: eventuell – possibly, perhaps

English: eventually – schließlich, endlich, irgendwann

Eventuell habe ich in der einen oder anderen Situation emotional überreagiert.

Possibly I overreacted emotionally in one or another situation.

Caption 28, Filmtrailer - Keinohrhasen

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You may describe a horse as being brav, but this has nothing to do with being brave! 

German: brav – well, well-behaved, dutifully

English: brave – mutig, tapfer

Die schönste Wiesnerfahrung?

The best Oktoberfest experience?

Dass immer die Pferdel [Pferdchen] brav gingen.

That the horses always went dutifully.

Caption 15, Oktoberfest München - Auf der Wiesn

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As you can see, using “false friends” in the wrong context can be embarrassing, but most of the time it is just a funny mistake. However, you should try to learn these deceitful words to avoid any faux pas!