maize

Maize sounds like maze (labyrinth) or amazing.

Here is an amazing maize maze!

eventually

In English, "eventually" means "in the end", "after a long wait" or "finally".

Example:

 

I argued with my colleague for over a week, but eventually I had to admit that she was right.

You can run from your problems but eventually they will catch up with you.

Origin of the confusion:

In German, "eventuell" means "possibly" or "potentially".

Commas in English

Commas are complicated! Here are a few rules. One general piece of advice: if you have a lot of commas in a sentence, consider dividing it into two (or more) sentences or changing the word order.

Commas as brackets

Commas can be used in place of brackets. Make sure that the sentence isn't too long and that it is clear which part of the sentence is in comma brackets. 

My friend Li, who comes from China, doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Tip: If the sentence is long with a lot of commas, consider using real brackets, e.g. 

My friend Li (who comes from China) doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Commas to separate introductions

Commas should be used to separate the introductory element from the rest of the sentence.

In 2014, elections for the European Parliament took place.

In general, you should go to the airport one hour before your flight.

However, ...

For example, ...

This is also true if the words come in the middle of the sentence:

You can, of course, go to the airport two hours before your flight.

I would recommend, however, that you only go one hour before.

Tip: If the sentence is long with a lot of commas, consider putting this information at the end of the sentence, e.g. 

Elections for the European Parliament took place in 2014.

Commas when adverbial or subordinate clauses come first

I call these "flipped sentences". In this kind of sentence, the "because", "as", "due to", "owing to", "although", "if", etc. comes first.

Because animals were not allowed in the student dorms, I had to give away my hamster to a friend.

Although I learnt to play the piano when I was younger, I don't think I would be able to read music now.

Tip: If the sentence is long with a lot of commas, consider flipping the sentence and removing the commas e.g. 

I had to give away my hamster to a friend because animals were not allowed in the student dorms."

Examples of sentences with a lot of commas:

Owing to the one-child policy, my friend Li, who comes from China, doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Here it would be better to remove one set of commas:

My friend Li, who comes from China, doesn't have any brothers or sisters owing to the one-child policy.

Owing to the one-child policy, my Chinese friend Li doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Extra advice for native German speakers:

No comma before "that".

which or that

This one is quite difficult to explain. I don't know the rule, but this is how I do it:

If the information after the which/that is essential information, then use "that".

Example with "that"

Where is the chocolate?
What chocolate are you talking about?
The chocolate that I put on my desk this morning.




Note that there is no comma before "that".


 
If the information after the which/that is not essential information, then use "which". A good way to check this is whether you can put the information in brackets.

Example with "which"

I'm putting this chocolate, which I bought while I was on holiday, on the table so everyone can help themselves.
I'm putting this chocolate (which I bought while I was on holiday) on the table so everyone can help themselves.

Note that there is always a comma before "which" .


Incorrect
Some people think "which" just sounds better that "that" and there is no difference. They are wrong. It sound bad if you use which where you mean that.

sieve

Sieve is pronounced "siv". 

It rhymes with give.

Bonus point:
The one for pasta is called a colander.

 
 
Incorrect:
It's not pronounced "see-v", and the other one is not a noodle sieve.

what it looks like and how it looks

Correct phrases:

what it looks like
how it looks

You can replace "looks" with "sounds", "feels", etc.

Examples:

This isn't what it looks like!
That wasn't how it sounded to me.

Incorrect:
"How it looks like". In German, this would be, "wienach es aussieht".

therefore and therefor

This Denglish mistake is the most problematic and persistent mistake I have had to deal with during my time correcting German-English texts. "Therefore/therefore" is very frequently used incorrectly by German speakers, and it seems to be difficult to remember the correct words to use.

There is only one correct way to use "therefore".

Therefore:

"Therefore" is the best friend of "because" and should be used when the two clauses of a "because" sentence are flipped around.

Example: 

He was unable to play football because he was injured.

He was injured, therefore he was unable to play football.

Rule: If you can't flip it to make a "because" sentence, don't use "therefore".

Therefor:

This word is not used in modern English. Modern spell checkers will underline this as a mistake. Don't use it. 

Origin of the confusion:

For example, you want to say:  

Ziel des Projektes war, herauszufinden ob Coca Cola und Pepsi in Blindversuchen von einander unterschieden werden können. Dafür wurden 200 Versuchspersonen unbeschriftete Becher mit Coca Cola oder Pepsi gegeben.

The correct English translation is:

The aim of this project was to find out if Coca Cola and Pepsi could be correctly identified in blind trials. To do this, 200 test subjects were given unlabelled cups containing either Coca Cola or Pepsi.

Other correct options: 

...identified in blind trials. To this aim, 200 test subjects...

...identified in blind trials. To investigate this, 200 test subjects...

...identified in blind trials. This was done by giving 200 test subjects...

...identified in blind trials. In this study, 200 test subjects...

...and many more. 

Or nothing:

...identified in blind trials. Two hundred test subjects were...

This abstract is a good example of the correct use of "therefore" and "to do this". http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v267/n5608/abs/267281a0.html

Still not convinced?
Many people simply don't believe me. Look up "to do this" (with quotation marks " ") on Google Scholar and note how often it is used in this context by American/Canadian/British/Irish/Australian authors. You will not find a paper by a native English speaker that uses "therefore/therefor" to mean "dafür", only papers by other non-native speakers. 

But google told me...
If you google "therefor" and "dafür" you will get some google hits. In Shakespeare's works you can find "therefor" used for this purpose, but it is not used like this in modern English. Unless you are writing in Shakespearean English, do not use it.

Incorrect:
"thus" is also wrong and very old fashioned.