How do you say “Barking up the wrong tree” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is Auf dem Holzweg sein, which literally means “To be on the wood path”. English speakers use barking up the wrong tree to mean to be pursuing a mistaken idea, person or course of action. Very natural. The 'Holzweg' was a forest track that led only to a logging site and then stopped, a path to nowhere. It is informal, neutral and common in everyday German.
Closest natural German
Auf dem Holzweg sein
/aʊf deːm ˈhɔlt͡sveːk zaɪn/
- Literal meaning
- “To be on the wood path”
- Register
- informal, neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Close equivalent
88 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
Both idioms say that someone's effort is aimed at the wrong target. The English image is a dog at the wrong tree, the German a track that leads nowhere.
If the point is specifically that someone asked the wrong person, "an die falsche Adresse geraten" is more precise.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity2 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in German?
Da irrst du dich gewaltig.
Literally: “There you are mistaken enormously.”
Direct and blunt, without the image.
An die falsche Adresse geraten
Literally: “To end up at the wrong address”
Best when someone has approached the wrong person.
Don't translate it literally
Den falschen Baum anbellen
The literal version is not German. It sounds like a joke about dogs.
Word-for-word versions like these are understood as literal statements in German, not as expressions.
In context
English
If you think I approved it, you're barking up the wrong tree.
German
Wenn du denkst, dass ich das genehmigt habe, bist du auf dem Holzweg.
English
The investigators were barking up the wrong tree.
German
Die Ermittler waren auf dem Holzweg.
Related expressions
- What “Barking up the wrong tree” means in English
- Hit the nail on the head, To be exactly right.
- A wild goose chase, A pointless, fruitless search.
Last reviewed 2026-09-11