Ok English speakers and language lovers...?

Question

WHich language is more like English? French Or German? I say French but my friend says German... SHe is a native spanish speaker so I figure I'd know best but I'm just curious... Is English more like French or German? ps I know many words in English are in French

Answer 1

Well, mixed feelings...



English is a Germanic language, so the very basic structure of the language as well as basic words (water/wasser when/wann...) are very easily linked to German.



However, the language thereafter inherited an incredible number of French words (I have heard that >50% of the vocabulary was from French/Latin, or made a back and forth over the Channel). Some of these words (e.g. to expect) have now disappeared in French, but I am amazed by the number of French words that have become English (and if they spell the same, they are not pronounced alike at all, e.g. "restaurant" even if this one is a "cliche").



I would tend to say that in terms of arithmetics, the number of French words is likely to be higher, but the structure and basics are more German like.

Answer 2

Its hard to say. English is technically from the same language group as german, but german is vastly different. The way sentences are formed and other grammatical features differ greatly, this is also true for french. French on the other hand shares a large vocabulary with english where german is not as similar. I'd have to say french would probably be easier to learn than german for a native english speaker.

Answer 3

Definitely German. In fact Saxons are a Germanic tribe that settled in England. German and English belong to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. French is a Latin language and is closer to Italian or Spanish. I have to add that the Normans who conquered England spoke French because they came from France, so there ae a lot of French words in English.

Answer 4

German. The English language is a Germanic (or Teutonic) language. You need only look at the grammar and the simple words to see the connection.

Answer 5

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion. The first was by language speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family; they conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it was never a truly mixed language in the strict linguistic sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication).



Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical supplementation of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Italic branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary.



The more modern English after the 10th century is based on the high German with a mixture of French added to it...

Answer 6

german because English is considered a Germanic language

Answer 7

Definitely German !

Answer 8

yes German

Answer 9

german becasue we have adopted more words from there. Also French is a Germanic language becasue they use to be one and when france broke off they made their own version.

Answer 10

definitely German!

Answer 11

I think that is one of the most fascinating things about the language. That it is a remarkable composit like a magical bag of potpourri from so many different lands and time.

Answer 12

i don't know a word of spanish...but i tried google translate..here's what i gt:- Ay que non hay! Ay que non era! (possibly, there cud be something wrong with it, or as u said, old spanish!) But alas, that is non of my sorrow who is hurt! Mother, mother mine, my beautiful friend. Moors from beyond take him captive. Moors from beyond take him captive. Moorish gold chains lock. _______________________ About Baca was the King. Monday after eat; I looked at the rich stores Who were in their camp. A Moor after a turret. He began his table. King Don Fernando Go here not to see each other laugh. Twenty thousand Moors inside. All weapons take. Eight hundred horse. For muzar eschar. ______________________________________... Finer hair you have on your braided I do a string to bring you to me. A pitcher at home girl, I would be to kiss you on the mouth when you were drinking. ______________________________________ Dame Amor countless kisses. Holding on to my hair. And a thousand percent after them. And behind them a thousand and one hundred and several thousand after three! And because nobody sits account disrupt the count down y. ..! lol ya i know! u need a native speaker! i think if i try yahoo itranslate...that will be even worse! all the best fr finding a native speaker! p.s. baca means top, roof or rack (idk y it doesn't show when i try it in a sentence)! lol yahoo itranslate said it was roof rack! it could mean, 'the king was at the top' or, 'the king was abt at the top'! 'desbaratemos' means routed down... nd when i try that line without 'y...', it becomes, 'Because nobody sits and disrupt the tale told in reverse'... nd when i remove just 1 '.', it becomes, 'And because nobody feels disrupt the mind and. Counting down'! hope it helps! p.p.s. who gave me a low rating? here i am...trying to help sm1...nd ppl r giving me a low rating without letting me collect more info!

Answer 13

GERMAN, of course!