Don't be afraid of the difficult-looking words above! It's really quite simple: Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings. Heterographs are homophones that also have different spellings. This can be quite confusing in spoken language, because the only way to tell homophones and heterographs apart is by the context in which they are used. The word "homophone" literally means "sounds the same," whereas the word "heterograph" means "written differently." In German, both nouns are neuter: das Homofon (or das Homophon) and das Heterofon (or das Heterophon).

Note too that in German, regional differences in pronunciation can sometimes make a set of words homophones in one region, but not in another. Let's take a look at some German heterographs today.

Monika aß sehr viel gekochtes Getreide.

Monika ate a lot of cooked grains.

Caption 4, Deutsch mit Eylin - Ernährungsformen

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Wenn die Nahrung knapp wird, begnügt er sich mit Aas.

When food becomes scarce, it makes do with carrion.

Caption 26, Die letzten Paradiese - Schätze der Natur: Südtirol

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It's ironic (and a bit disgusting) that the past tense of "to eat" (aß, from essen) sounds the same as the word for cadaver (das Aas). There's a certain logic, however, in the fact that most animal cadavers in the wild tend to get eaten by scavenger animals. When a homophone pair consists of a verb and a noun, you can construct funny-sounding sentences from them, such as: Er aß das Aas. By the way, only humans are referred to with the verb essen ("to eat"), whereas animals always take the verb fressen ("to devour"). And indeed, fressen also has a heterograph.

Das Pferd frisst gerne Äpfel.

The horse likes eating apples.

Caption 38, Deutsch mit Eylin - Pronomen

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Diese Frist kann verlängert werden,

This deadline can be extended

und zwar wieder nur durch einen einstimmigen Beschluss.

and only—indeed once again—through a unanimous ruling.

Caption 19, Brexit-Votum - Merkel warnt vor Spaltung Europas

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The third-person present tense of "to devour" (fressen) is frisst, and die Frist is a deadline or time limit. Der Pferd frisst Äpfel lieber ohne Frist. Nobody likes to be hurried to eat, right?

Er bot den Frauen ein Abkommen an.

He offered the women a deal.

Caption 55, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Weiber von Weinsberg

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Oje, das Boot von Opa Wutz hat kein Benzin mehr.

Uh oh, Grandpa Wutz's boat is out of gas.

Caption 16, Peppa Wutz - Sport

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Thus the past tense of "to offer" (bot, from bieten) is a heterograph of das Boot. Using both words in the same sentence, you can say something like: Das Boot bot uns viele Reisemöglichkeiten.

Wenn diese Temperatur so anhält,

If this temperature continues,

frieren die ganzen Seen in der Umgebung, wie ihr auch hinter mir sehen könnt, komplett zu.

all the lakes in the area will completely freeze over, as you can see behind me.

Captions 6-7, Unterwegs mit Cettina - Schlittschuhlaufen

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In this case, the plural of "lake" (der See) is Seen, and the verb "to see" is sehen. In the above example, both words of this heterograph pair are already in a single sentence.

Further Learning
Take a look at these examples of German homophones on Wikipedia and find some examples of the words used in a real-world context on Yabla German. Then see if you can create some German sentences using both homophones in the same sentence. You are allowed to make silly sentences, of course!

The German verbs raten and beraten can both mean "to advise," or "to give advice," but to correctly choose the right word, you need to learn the different ways they are used. Let's take a look at some different ways that raten and beraten are used in the sense of advising, so we can better understand which verb is appropriate to specific situations. Note that raten can also mean "to guess," and beraten can also mean "to discuss," but these are not definitions we're concerned with here.

The verb raten, in its meaning "to advise" or "to recommend," generally has a direct object stating what that advice is: 

Und ich kann unseren britischen Freunden nur raten, sich hier auch nichts vorzumachen.

And I can only advise our British friends not to have any misconceptions.

Caption 15, Brexit-Votum: Merkel warnt vor Spaltung Europas

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Alle meine Freunde raten Dich mir aus dem Kopf zu schlagen.

All of my friends advise me To put you out of my mind.

Captions 23-24, SDP feat. Adel Tawil. Ich will nur, dass du weißt

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Experten raten im Gegensatz zum Gesetzgeber zu mindestens vier Millimeter.

In contrast to legislators, experts advise at least four millimeters.

Caption 25, Winterreifen: Wenn der erste Schnee naht

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Note that with the verb raten, if the person who is being given the advice is stated, it is always in the dative case. The advice itself thus stated as the direct object, and the person to whom it is directed is the indirect object. 

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The verb beraten, on the other hand, has the person being advised as the direct object in the accusative case, and generally the actual advice is not mentioned in the same sentence. Note too that beraten can often be alternately translated as "to receive advice" (to be advised by) or "to give advice" (to advise).

Ein Bankkaufmann muss Kunden beraten.

A banker has to advise clients.

Caption 10, Nicos Weg: Mein Beruf

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Alternately: A banker has to give advice to clients.

Der Apotheker oder die Apothekerinnen beraten die Kunden.

The pharmacist or the pharmacists advise the customers.

Caption 21, Eva erklärt: Gesundheit

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Alternately: The pharmacist or the pharmacists give advice to the customers.

Suchen Sie dann den nächsten Schalter Ihrer Fluggesellschaft auf und lassen sich vor Ort beraten.

Search then for the nearest ticket counter of your airline and let them advise you on the spot.

Captions 7-8, Flugreisen Was mache ich, wenn...

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Alternately: ...let them give you advice on the spot. Note that the form in this case is sich beraten lassen.

To conclude, you should use raten if you want to specifically advise something, but you should use sich beraten lassen if you are suggesting somebody gets advice, and jemanden beraten if you are suggesting somebody gives advice: 

Ich rate dir den Arzt zu besuchen.
I advise you to visit the doctor.

Ich rate dir dich vom Arzt beraten zu lassen. 
I advise you to get advice from your doctor. 

Der Arzt hat mich beraten.
The doctor advised me.
Or: The doctor gave me advice.

We could even translate the next-to-last sentence as "I advise you to be advised by your doctor," but it's a bit clumsy, isn't it?

Further Learning
Go to German Yabla and find other examples of raten and beraten to see them used in a real world context. You can also compare raten and beraten to the similarly-used verb empfehlen.

One of my favorite German words took me a long time to learn to pronounce and even longer to properly understand. The word beziehungsweise not only has a fairly complex meaning, but it is also so long that in most cases people abbreviate the written form as bzw. 

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Often beziehungsweise is translated simply as "or": 

Einen Wohnwagen beziehungsweise eine Hütte bekommt man ab

You get a trailer or a hut from

fünfundfünfzig Euro.

fifty-five euros.

Caption 33, Berlin - Indoor-Camping im „Hüttenpalast“

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So why not simply say oder ("or") instead of the longer beziehungsweise? One reason is that the latter often goes more in-depth than just saying "or."  You may want to rent either a trailer or a hut, or perhaps both a trailer and hut. Beziehungsweise is thus often translated as "respectively" too:

Sobald beziehungsweise

As soon as, or respectively,

erst wenn der Antrag gemäß Artikel fünfzig

only when the motion in accordance with Article Fifty

der EU-Verträge vorliegt.

of the EU Treaties is submitted.

Captions 17-18, Brexit-Votum - Merkel warnt vor Spaltung Europas

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Sometimes beziehungsweise is used to narrow down a meaning and in this case is translated as "more specifically": 

Damit man dieses Geld auch bekommt,

In order to receive this money,

benötigt man ein Bankkonto beziehungsweise ein Girokonto.

you need a bank account, more specifically a checking account.

Captions 7-8, Eva erklärt - Bankkonten

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Further Learning
So whether you are learning German for fun or (beziehungsweise) for business — perhaps both, right? — this is a good word to have in your active vocabulary. Although it is not usually translated as such, for me it helped to think of the word as the "and/or" that you sometimes see in English. Take a look at examples  of beziehungsweise in context on Yabla German.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an important speech before the German Bundestag (Parliament) on June 28, giving a clear summary of the German perspective on the recent British referendum to leave the European Union. For those of you who don't yet subscribe to Yabla, we are publishing an excerpt of her speech here as an example of the kind of content that you can have access to by subscribing. For Yabla subscribers, it's a great way to view this excerpt of her speech in its entirety.

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Nach Artikel 50 der Europäischen Verträge 
According to Article 50 of the European Treaties,
hat Großbritannien formal den Europäischen Rat darüber zu unterrichten, 
Great Britain must formally inform the European Council 
dass es seine Mitgliedschaft beenden möchte. 
that it would like to end its membership. 
Nach diesem Antrag werden die 27 anderen Mitgliedsstaaten 
After this request, the 27 other member countries will specify 
die in Artikel 50, Absatz 2, der Europäischen Verträge erwähnten Leitlinien 
the guidelines—mentioned in Article 50, paragraph 2 of the European treaties
des Europäischen Rates für die Verhandlungen festlegen. 
of the European Council—for the negotiations.
Und nach der Festlegung dieser Leitlinien können die Verhandlungen beginnen,
And after the establishment of these guidelines, the negotiations can begin,
nicht vorher, weder formell noch informell.
not before, neither formally nor informally.
Um es klipp und klar zusammenzufassen: Wir nehmen zur Kenntnis, dass Großbritannien
To summarize it in plain language: We acknowledge that Great Britain
einen Antrag gemäß Artikel 50 der EU-Verträge noch nicht stellen will,
does not yet want to submit a request in accordance with Article 50 of the EU Treaties
und Großbritannien seinerseits muss zur Kenntnis nehmen,
and Great Britain must for its part acknowledge
dass es keine wie auch immer gearteten Verhandlungen oder
that there can and will be no negotiations or
Vorgespräche geben kann und wird, solange der Antrag
preliminary discussions whatsoever as long as the motion in accordance
nach Artikel 50 nicht gestellt wurde, weder formell noch informell.
with Article 50 has not been submitted, neither formal nor informal.
Und ich kann unseren britischen Freunden nur raten, sich hier nichts vorzumachen
And I can only advise our British friends not to have any misconceptions
bei den notwendigen Entscheidungen, die in Großbritannien getroffen werden müssen.
regarding the necessary decisions that must be reached in Great Britain.
Sobald beziehungsweise erst wenn der Antrag gemäß Artikel 50
As soon as, or respectively, only when the motion in accordance with Article 50
der EU-Verträge vorliegt, beginnt eine zweijährige Frist für die Verhandlungen.
of the EU Treaties is submitted, will a two year period for the negotiations begin.
Diese Frist kann verlängert werden, und zwar wieder nur durch einen einstimmigen Beschluss.
This time period can be extended and only—indeed once again—through a unanimous ruling.
An ihrem Ende wird eine Vereinbarung über die genauen Einzelheiten
At its end, an arrangement about the exact details
des Austritts Großbritanniens aus der Europäischen Union stehen.
of Great Britain's exit from the European Union will be produced.
Solange die Verhandlungen laufen, bleibt Großbritannien Mitglied der Europäischen Union.
As long as the negotiations are in progress, Great Britain will remain a member of the European Union.
Alle Rechte und Pflichten, die sich aus dieser Mitgliedschaft ergeben,
All rights and obligations that result from this membership
sind bis zum tatsächlichen Austritt vollständig zu achten und einzuhalten,
are, until the actual exit, to be completely respected and complied with,
und das gilt für beide Seiten gleichermaßen.
and that applies for both sides equally.
Captions 1-25, Brexit-Votum - Merkel warnt vor Spaltung Europa

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Further Learning
Do a search on Yabla German for some of the bureaucratic terms in Merkel's speech that you may be less familiar with to see the words used in other contexts. Here is a list to start with: der Antrag, der Beschluss, die Frist, der Mitgliedsstaat, die Verhandlung, die Vereinbarung. You can also read Chancellor Merkel's entire speech here. If you have not yet subscribed to Yabla German, try these sample videos to see how our language learning system works!