Funny story . . . my dad was in Germany, and he saw a man in uniform. He asked the man, in German, if he was a soldier (soldat). The man did not understand what he was saying. My dad tried again, this time mentioning banches of the military "not navy. . .soldier" (nicht marine . . . soldat).
Finally, it turned out that the guy didn't understand him because my dad emphasized the wrong syllable. (He had said soldat instead of soldat)