bald or kahl?

a2

English bald is German kahl or glatzköpfig. German bald means soon and says something about time, not about hair.

bald

In a short time, shortly. It has comparative forms: eher, am ehesten. Also in „so bald wie möglich“.

Wir sehen uns bald wieder.We'll see each other again soon.

kahl

What English bald means: without hair, without leaves, bare. Of people you can also say glatzköpfig.

Im Winter sind die Bäume kahl.In winter the trees are bare.

The mistake

Mein Onkel wird bald.

Mein Onkel wird kahl.

The wrong sentence breaks off mid-thought: „werden“ needs an adjective here, and „bald“ is not one.

Rule of thumb

Mnemonic: German bald says when, English bald says how much hair.

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