Is English closer to German or French?

By linguist criteria English is more similar to German, both belong in the West Germanic languages and its vocabulary has been influenced by other Germanic languages as well.

Is English closer to French than German?

As a native English speaker, to my ears German sounds closer to English than French, but Dutch sounds even closer. However, English speakers often find French easier to read than German because much of our vocabulary is very similar, and spellings have changed very little.

Is German the closest English language?

For the same reasons Dutch is the closest language to English, German is also a close language, and another one that many English speakers may find easier to learn. Dutch is commonly mentioned as the language nestled between English and German.

How close are English and German?

Even today, 80 of the 100 most common words in English are Germanic in origin. These most basic, most frequently spoken words in English and German are from the same roots, making them all extremely similar. Give or take a few spelling and pronunciation differences, they're practically the same.

Does English have more in common with French or German?

In 2016, English vocabulary is 26% Germanic, 29% French, 29% Latin, 6% from Greek and the remaining 10% from other languages and proper names. All together, French and Latin (both Romance languages) account for 58% of the vocabulary used in today's English.

English vs. German Language | How Similar Are English and German Words?

Why is English closer to French than German?

The relationship between these two languages began in ancient times and both languages are closely related linguistically, siblings. Though English vocabulary was significantly influenced by French, however, French is a Romance language which belongs to the Indo-European family, not a West Germanic language.

Is English really Germanic?

In fact, eighty of the hundred most used words in English are of Germanic origin. These most basic, common words in English and German derive from the same roots, making them amazingly similar. That's why an English word like “friend” is “freund” in German.

Can an English speaker understand German?

You would think, for example, that conversational German would be somewhat (can't say easily) accessible to a native English speaker, but aside from conversational pleasantries afforded us all by UG, most anglophones do not understand German.

Is English easy for German speakers?

German might not be as familiar to English speakers as Spanish, but it's still one of the easiest languages to learn. Like Spanish, it's also a phonetic language, which makes pronunciation easy to figure out.

What language is French closest to?

The languages that are most similar to French are Italian, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, and others like Romanian. These languages have one or more things in common with French, which mainly revolve around a high lexical count, in turn meaning shared vocabulary, and similar grammar.

Is German hard for English speakers?

German. For many English speakers, German is a difficult language to pick up. Its long words, four noun case endings, and rough pronunciation gives your tongue quite the workout each time you speak.

What is the easiest language for English speakers to learn?

Which European language is most similar to English?

Closest Major Language: Dutch

Because of this, Dutch possesses many words and phrases similar to English and has a similar grammatical structure.

Is German harder than English?

Some parts of German grammar are particularly tricky for English speakers to get to grips with, but German grammar is actually arguably easier to learn than English grammar because it follows set rules that are laid down by the three regional authorities, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (with small differences ...

What is the best second language to learn?

What is the hardest language to learn?

1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.

Which European language is hardest to learn?

Is German the hardest language to learn?

While German might not make the list of the easiest languages to learn, it isn't one of the top ten most difficult ones either. If you're looking for a quick answer to whether learning German really is as hard as you've heard – the answer is yes and no.

Is German worth learning?

After all, on a global scale German is used by relatively few people. However, there are good reasons why this language is a good investment. Not just from a linguistic point of view, but also in terms of economic opportunity, networking potential and cultural gain. German is a worthwhile choice.

Is Germany English friendly?

Within Germany, the study found that the federal states home to Germany's big cities came out on top in terms of English proficiency. Unsurprisingly, Berlin ranked highest overall with a score of 65,51. Expat-friendly Bavaria (65,09), Hamburg (64,72) and North-Rhine Westphalia (64,63) also ranked highly.

Can you survive in Germany with English?

Long story short: You can survive in Germany without knowing the German language; most Germans speak English, the train usually runs announcements in English and in restaurants or bars, waiters and waitresses often speak English, especially in the city center.

Why is German so hard?

Learning German Genders Can Be Frustrating

But, German does. German has three genders, which makes it even more difficult to master. It's probably the reason why the Foreign Service Institute deemed it harder than French, which only has two genders. German has masculine (der), feminine (die), and neutral (das) gender.

Is English a mix of German and French?

English has its roots in the Germanic languages, from which German and Dutch also developed, as well as having many influences from romance languages such as French. (Romance languages are so called because they are derived from Latin which was the language spoken in ancient Rome.)

What percentage of English is French?

Nearly 30 percent of English words (in an 80,000 word dictionary) are of French origin.

Why isn't English considered a Romance language?

Although English has borrowed a lot of words from Latin, it is not a Romance language. Having developed from the mix between the dialects and vocabulary of Germanic peoples (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) who settled in Britain in the 5th century CE, English is considered a West Germanic language.