Are German and English similar languages?

Question

History tells me that English is a Germanic language or a derivative of the German language. Are there close similarities in the two languages with the mechanics, grammar, or structure?

Answer 1

German and Old English are, in fact, quite similar. However, the English language has changed considerably throughout its lifetime. Though the language of the Old English texts like Beowulf bear a closer resemblance to German than to Modern English, changes in the languages have created greater gaps between the languages. English is a mutt language that has been influenced by many different languages and cultures throughout its being. Thus, German and Modern English, are actually quite different.

Answer 2

One of the most important factors in changing the language was the influence of french when the Normans invaded England. The high society spoke an old dialect of french, while the lower society spoke anglo-saxon, a language of the west germanic family.
That is why culinary terms tend to be of french origin, while the names for the animals are germanic. For example: "cow" comes from an Old High German word, while "beef" can be traced all the way to latin 'bov' as in 'bovine.'

One other similarity with German is the ability to form new words from existing ones. Much of the German vocabulary and flexibility of the language is derived from this technique. A common example in english is doghouse. A more complex one would be antidisestablishmentarianism (however cliché).

Answer 3

Yes, English is of the same language family, Germanic. English borrows from all languages constantly, that's why there's so many "foreign" words accumulated in our speech. If you look at Olde English letters, they will show a similar pronunciation to the Olde German writings. For example: /ff/ = /s/, /ph/ = /f/, the guttural g and d. We also conjugate our verbs in the same way. We also borrow more words from German & Dutch than any other language. Nowadays English seems closer to the Latin tongues because of the influence of Spanish in America. But, if you look back to the origins, we're from the Germanic branch.
English is very different though in many ways. We have more tenses than German, and, of course, we borrow many "foreign" words that German doesn't. English is also less flexible in its word order (grammar). German speakers can say their sentences with words in different places, whereas we can't move the words around as freely. Also, our pronounciation is very freaky. The number of homonyms and synomyns in English are a bear for any learner! Not to mention the mulitple meanings and idioms!

Answer 4

They are both westgermanic languages, and they were quite similar untill 1066. After that england was under norman reign, and the entire upper and middle class preferred the normandy-french over maintaining the germanic. Thus, no educated people spoke it, so the language lost a lot of endings and words - and also some clarity. Later on the gemanic and normandy-languages sort of merged, and that's why english now has more words than any other language

Answer 5

there is..if u speak German then its easy to learn English...if u speak English its difficult to learn German...problem is in the pronunciation. The German language is not easy at all.

Answer 6

nope not at all... my ex sister in law is full bloode German and I couldn't understand a word of it.

not sure about the similarities part..

Like in German there is no W as it sounds with us

So really a BMW in German is a BMV
weird huh

Answer 7

I believe that they are of the same linguistic family. You can Wikipedia and see what's written.

Answer 8

Not at all.Some english words had been derived from french but certainly not from german.