Overtake or take over? The German word that flips in English

In a handover meeting, a colleague said, „I’ll overtake the project from Monday.“

Everyone nodded. Everyone understood.

Übernehmen is über plus nehmen. Over plus take. English uses the same two words the other way round: take over. Your brain translated it perfectly. It just kept the German order.

In English, overtake belongs to roads and races. You overtake a car. You overtake a rival. Nobody in that room was confused for a second, and the handover went ahead as planned.

Worth fixing when you notice it. Not worth a second of worry. Most of your „mistakes“ in English are this kind, where the thinking is right and only the word order flipped.

Quick win: „I’ll take over the project.“ Save overtake for cars and competitors.