Difference Between German and Other Languages Funny

While they are two different languages, High german and English are actually quite like!

Both languages are West Germanic languages, meaning they come up from an older 'version' of German. Each has its own history, but that shared by ways they still accept a lot in common.

Hopefully knowing these 17 similarities and differences volition make learning German language less intimidating!

History

1. Both German and English accept similar linguistic periods

Both English and German take Quondam, Centre, and New/Modern periods in their linguistic history.

These periods tend to occur around the same time, with Sometime High german and English beginning around 500-750 CE. This is because the 2 languages split at an earlier point, giving them both fourth dimension to undergo sound changes and develop their ain intricacies earlier written texts were developed.

The Old forms of both languages are nearly indecipherable to modernistic speakers who haven't learned the 'language.' Aspects of German were more prevalent in Old English language, such as -en verb endings, noun and describing word cases, and overall syntax.

The 2 languages became more than distinct over fourth dimension, with Heart German and Centre English both becoming more like their modern counterparts.

Heart High german has ii periods: New High German language and Middle Low German. It's also around this time that Scots and Northumbrian split from Middle English. In that location are still some similarities here, but far fewer than at that place are between Sometime English and Old High german (or even betwixt One-time English language and Modern German!).

German language Sample:

• Old German: Pho ende uuodan uuorun zi holza
  • Due to lack of Old German writing, this is a dissimilar poem than the 1 below
• Centre German: Mîn herze und mîn lîp diu wellent scheiden,
• Modern German:

English language Sample:

• Old English language: Uren Fader þat art in heofnas,
• Middle English language: Our Fadir that art in heuenes,
• Mod English: Our Male parent who art/are in heaven,

ii. German was one time a lingua franca of Central Europe

Much similar how English language tends to exist a lingua franca or common linguistic communication today, German was also once the common linguistic communication.

The Holy Roman Empire was a collection of High german federations. Information technology once controlled a large swathe of Key Europe, stretching from parts of France at its westernmost point to parts of Poland in the eastward, and Sardinia in the south.

This meant that large numbers of people in Europe spoke a German language dialect at to the lowest degree a little. This also explains why High german is nonetheless considered a minority language in some of these areas today.

Compare this to English's reach in modern times. Because Britain'due south function as a colonial power, and the US' part as a military and economical power, English has become a fairly commonly spoken language today. Yous can go to a completely different part of the globe and be able to find someone who can speak English, even if they aren't totally fluent.

And so while German eventually faded out of prominence, both it and English language take held a position as a lingua franca at some indicate.

Pronunciation

3. Certain letters are pronounced differently between English and German

A lot of letters are pronounced the aforementioned between English and German, just there are also some normally occurring letters that are dissimilar between the two. Knowing them is important in learning the German language language.

Some differences that yous might know include the w sounding like a v, the v sounding like the English f, and j being pronounced like y.

Simply you take z, which is far more common in German than English. z is pronounced ts, similar to the racket a cymbal makes. So, if you wanted to ask 'how many trains does the boy have' you would say wie viele Züge hat der Junge' and would pronounce it 'vee FEel-uh tsue-guh lid dair yung-uh.'

The letters m, d, and s can be a chip trickier because they're pronounced in a couple of different ways. Chiliad can exist pronounced as the typical English hard-k, only if information technology comes at the finish of the word in a 'vowel + g' combo, and then it will sound more like a k.

The letter d'due south pronunciation also depends on the ending of the word. If d is at the beginning or in the heart of the word, then it stays a d. If instead it is at the end of a give-and-take or in a dt cluster, then information technology is pronounced t.

A sample sentence yous can use to practice is mein Kind hat genug Drama, or 'my kid has enough drama,' and is pronounced 'mine kint hat geh-nuk drama.'

S is fifty-fifty more complicated. It can be pronounced as south, z, or sh, depending on where in the word it is:

• If it comes in the middle or at the end of a give-and-take, then information technology stays an south.
• It is pronounced similar the English z if it comes at the beginning of a give-and-take in the 'due south + vowel' combo.
• If it comes at the beginning of the word in a 'southward + consonant' combo, then information technology will be pronounced sh.

So, if you lot wanted to say 'she is a student' it would be sie ist eine Studentin and would be pronounced 'zee isst I-nuh shtoo-den-tin.'

Of course, in that location are exceptions to these rules, simply they tin mostly exist followed to assist with pronunciation!

4. German has a more fricative-based pronunciation than English

While this could probably autumn under the different ways certain letters are pronounced, fricative pronunciation tin be tricky to grasp. Fricatives are sounds in a language with some, but not complete, blockage of airflow.

In English, these include f, v, sh, and other similar sounds. For English speakers learning German, the pronunciation of r and ch are more than fricative than they would be in English language and can exist harder to pronounce.

In English, for example, the r in 'red' is pronounced with the tongue at the front of the mouth, with the tip slightly curved back. In German, on the other mitt, the r in rot (also red) is pronounced with the tongue toward the back of the oral cavity, with the natural language body raised toward the uvula. This produces a rougher r sound like to the French r in 'Paris.'

This is in dissimilarity to when r comes at the terminate of words in High german, where it is usually just dropped and left to inflection, such as wenige (veh-genu-guh, few) vs. weniger (veh-knee-gah, less)

Besides, the ch is pronounced as a more raspy sound in German than it is in English language. Both languages take two common pronunciations of the ch diphthong, one that'south softer and one that's harder, as well as some unusual pronunciations. Both languages use the soft ch more often than the difficult ch.

Soft and hard ch pronunciations in English:

• Soft ch – an affricate, like in 'cheese'
• Hard ch – a stop, as in 'loch'

Soft and difficult ch pronunciations in High german:

• Soft ch
  • A fricative, pronounced past arching the bract of the tongue (the part just behind the tip) toward the top of your mouth while keeping information technology apartment and not touching the roof of your mouth.
  • Sometimes replaced by the sh sound.
• Difficult ch
  • A fricative and is pronounced similarly to the r in rot.
  • Sounds more like hissing than the r (you can exercise past putting your tongue in the position and just blowing air out through your mouth).
  • The hard, or dorsum, ch comes after 'dorsum vowels' (u, o), a, and ä. So, you would employ the soft ch in 'ich' and the hard ch in 'machen.'

In English, the third, less common way of pronouncing ch makes information technology sound similar sh. English words using this tertiary pronunciation tend to be loanwords from French, retrieve charade or charcuterie. German has a handful of boosted pronunciations.

The nearly common united nationscommon manner of pronouncing ch in High german is as a k. This pronunciation typically happens when the ch is get-go a discussion and is follower past r, l, a, or o, like in 'Chor' for 'choir' (only also irregularly in 'Orchester' for orchestra!).

In some dialects, you lot'll likewise get the German ch sounding like the ch in 'cheese' when it comes in the -chen ending, like in Mädchen.

5. English language and German both have 'Standard' and 'non-Standard' dialects

If y'all're an English speaker, so you've surely noticed how different areas of the English-speaking world have different dialects. German also has different dialects, some of which are easier to sympathize than others.

The Standard German dialect is often only called 'German' or 'High German language/Hochdeutsch,' the same as how Standard English language is often merely called 'English language.' Both languages have or take had a fairly big geographic reach likewise every bit contact with other languages. This means some areas develop sound and grammar changes that aren't present in other places.

In Frg, the dialect differences tend to exist on a due north-south axis, simply there are besides differences in the dialects in the e vs due west.

The reason that German dialects tend to be differentiated forth due north-southward is that German has sound change 'lines' that are a general demarcation of where things are pronounced in noticeably different ways in the flatter versus more hilly and mountainous areas of Germany.

For example, the Uerdingen and Benrather lines mark where the ch sound is pronounced more softly (forepart) vs. harder (back). To a higher place the lines, High german speakers tend to make the ch into more than of a g sound, whereas below the line yous however get the ch as a soft sound, and sometimes even a sh sound.

You might also discover that people in Bavaria (to the east) pronounce the ch harder than people in Rheinland (to the west). People across the lines will still use the 'standard' pronunciation, and the differences in dialects are more than of a gradient than a hard edge.

American English language is a bit looser with its dialectal boundaries, likely due to the size of the state. On the Eastward Coast, as well as far w as Texas, there are north-south differences in pronunciation. This leads to some differences in vowel pronunciation, such as 'I' farther northward and 'ah' towards the south for the give-and-take I.

US English besides has some distinct east-due west dialectal boundaries and some state-specific ones. A well-studied east-westward purlieus line in the US is the cot-caught merger, where people to the due west of the boundary pronounce them the same while speakers to the east of the boundary by and large distinguish o from augh.

British English, on the other paw, falls along more than north-due south boundary lines like German. In Britain, in that location is less diphthongization the farther north you go, so that words like 'out' sound more than similar oot.

In southern England, there is also a more small east-due west line like in Germany, with places closer to Wales pronouncing the a in 'bath' more like ah vs. augh.

half dozen. Dissimilar German countries also take unlike accents

Maybe it is no surprise and then that German and English both also have state-specific accents.

Austrian German sounds fairly similar to High High german (Hochdeutsch), similar to how Australian English and British English sound alike, but still distinct. Swiss German language (Schweizerdeutsch) and Hochdeutsch can be compared to Scotch English and US English.

Both English and High german have more than only pronunciation differences in their accents, there are also vocab changes as well. While perhaps a more minor similarity, this volition hopefully assist learners understand why some courses give you the option of Austrian High german vs. German (Deutschland).

Grammar

7. German and English have few irregular verbs

Both languages but have about 200 irregular verbs. This ways that you can predict with a fair corporeality of confidence how a verb is going to await within a given sentence.

The verbs 'to have,' 'to exist,' and 'to become' are some of the shared irregular verbs in both languages, though the full listing of irregular verbs that both languages share is quite a fleck longer.

In English, the but pronouns that get a special verb catastrophe are she, he, and it, which add an -s to the end of the verb when it isn't proceeded by 'to be.' Too, but 'I,' 'due south/he,' and 'it' go unlike 'to be' conjugations; everything else gets 'are.'

Conversely, in German, just 'Sie,' 'sie (pl),' and 'wir' get the –en verb endings and everything else gets a special ending. These three pronouns are also the simply ones to get the 'sind' form of 'to be.' To clear things up a bit, I've listed the conjugations for the regular verb 'run/rennen' in both languages below.

English regular conjugations:

• I –> run, (am -ing)
• You –> run, (are -ing)
• Due south/he, information technology –> runs, (is -ing)
• They –> run, (are -ing)
• Nosotros –> run, (are -ing)

German regular conjugations:

• Ich –> renne (-e)
• Du –> rennst (-st)
• Er, sie, es –> rennt (-t)
• Sie, sie –> rennen (-en)
• Wir –> rennen (-en)

8. Linguistic communication construction also tends to be similar

Since they are related to one some other, German language and English have a off-white number of structural similarities. This is one of the reasons, aside from vocab, that High german is a somewhat easier language to learn for English speakers, and vice versa.

Both English language and German are what are known equally SVO languages, meaning the subject field of a judgement comes earlier the verb which comes before the object, as seen in these examples:

• English: I honey you
• German: Ich liebe dich

The discussion order gets switched around when asking questions, but again, English and German follow the same sentence structure for these switches.

Using the examples in a higher place, yous tin can see that questions such as 'who practise I love/wer liebe ich,' or any question that puts the question discussion starting time, gets a new blueprint that goes object-verb-subject (OVS).

As well, questions without question words get a unlike pattern, such as 'exercise I dear you lot/liebe ich dich,' which goes verb-subject area-object (VSO).

Dissimilar the Romance languages, English and German both likewise put adjectives earlier nouns. So, where Castilian would say 'el gato hermoso,' where hermoso is 'pretty/beautiful,' English and German language say 'the pretty true cat/die schöne Katze.'

Adverbs also generally get special endings in both languages. For English, the -ly ending is a decent way to decide whether something is an adverb vs. an adjective.

For German, the -lich­ catastrophe does the same, with words containing it generally existence adverbs. Of course, both languages accept their exceptions, just information technology'due south a pretty solid starting rule for either language.

Nevertheless, despite their similarities, there are some things that are unlike. One is the apply of 2 verbs in i judgement, such in past and futurity tenses, or even just in more complex sentences.

If I wanted to say I am going to do something in English language, the guild would become verb-verb, simply in German, the second verb goes to the terminate of the sentence.

For case:

• I will see the moving picture' –> ich werde den Picture sehe

Every bit mentioned, the same affair happens in certain by tenses:

• I take seen the movie' –> ich habe den Film gesehen

Information technology also occurs when you utilize words similar 'because:'

• Because information technology is easy' –> weil es einfach ist

9. German doesn't distinguish between the habitual nowadays and the present progressive

The 2 comparison points above this one briefly hint at this point, but unlike English, German does not distinguish between the habitual present and the present progressive.

The habitual present indicates an action is recurring (ex. 'I drink tea), while the present progressive indicates an activeness is currently occurring (ex. 'I am drinking tea). In English and Romance languages, the difference in conjugation is important, merely for German language, the conjugation is omitted entirely.

Both examples would translate as 'ich trinke Tee,' and the listener would need to rely on context to sympathise whether the action is habitual or progressive. This can trip many new learners upwards as they endeavor to cohabit 'I am drinking tea' every bit 'ich bin Tee trinken' (or even, 'ich bin trinke(n) Tee').

Sometimes you'll hear German speakers adding in 'gerade' between the verb and the rest of the sentence. This is used to point the activity is occurring in the moment, such as if a friend asks what you lot're doing and you respond: ich trinke gerade Tee.

Making it even more complicated, German does distinguish between multiple past tenses like English (ex. I went, I have gone –> ich ging, ich habe gegangen). Future tenses likewise get multiple forms in both languages.

ten. German has 3 genders

Like a fair number of the world's languages, and unlike English, German is a gendered language. Rather than the typical feminine-masculine binary, German also includes the neuter equally a gender category.

The basic articles are der/ein (m.), die/eine (f.), and das/ein (n.), though word positioning in the judgement means that these undergo declensions as needed. Any plurals likewise get die.

These genders too go carried into adjectives, which receive different endings based on which gender the substantive it'south describing is. The bones endings for adjectives are -er (thou.), -east (f., pl.), and -es (n.).

German as well has declensions that change articles and adjective endings, so it's important to learn the gender of a noun along with the noun itself. This will save you lot loads of trouble afterwards on when you need to use more complicated sentences where declensions matter.

Coast and article/adjective gender are also important because High german is not tied to word guild the same way English is, and the ending can tell you what role a give-and-take plays in a sentence.

For case, ich gebe einen Apfel das Kind has the same meaning as ich gebe das Kind einen Apfel, or, 'I give the kid an apple.'

11. Formal, informal…plural?

German, similar many languages, has a different pronoun for formal, informal, and plural second-person pronouns.

In German, these are Sie (formal), du (informal), and ihr (plural). Each has a carve up verb conjugation from ane some other, but Sie and sie (they) both take the same form, which makes context important. If you're reading or writing German, the capitalization of the formal Sie is as well important considering 'she' and 'they' are too sie, but lowercase.

English does non have iii 2nd-person pronouns. In fact, many dialects only have one, simply 'you!' Withal, there are a good number of English dialects that differentiate between the singular and the plural you.

These include the American Due south's 'y'all,' 'yinz' from Philadelphia, and 'yous(e)' from a number of different dialects in both the US and the UK. Other accepted pluralizations often include adding additional words, such equally 'you guys,' rather than a modification of you itself.

Language and Civilisation

12. German and English share an alphabet

Both German and English share the aforementioned 26 letters that most Western European languages use. This certainly makes information technology easier for language learners to read and write in the linguistic communication. However, at that place are a couple of additional letters in German that at that place aren't in English.

The vowels 'a,' 'o,' and 'u' accept an umlauted version in German language and are pronounced slightly differently from their non-umlauted counterparts:

• ä –> ae, with an emphasis on the 'e' so nahe (nah, shut) becomes näher (neigh-yuh, closer)
• ö –> oe, where Vogel (foe-gl, bird) becomes Vögel (feu-gl, birds)
• ü –> ue, where Bruder (brood-uh, blood brother) becomes Brüder (brued-uh, brothers)

There's also a sharp-due south letter called the eszett that looks similar: ß. It is pronounced similarly to the due south in ist, but is held for slightly longer. If yous aren't using a German keyboard, yous tin supplant the eszett in words with ss. This special alphabetic character is only found in the middle or at the end of words, never at the commencement.

xiii. The High german keyboard is slightly unlike than the English one

While the German alphabet has the same 26 letters the English language one does, in that location are 4 additional letters whatsoever High german keyboard needs to accommodate: ä, ö, ü, and ß.

To account for these differences, the German keyboard moves the semi/colon, quotes, brackets, and hyphen/underscore to different locations to brand room for the additional letters. This means that some of the other symbols on the keyboard, like the question marking, forward slash, and ampersand, also go moved around.

Likewise, the occurrence frequency of z in German language is higher than the frequency of y, which is the opposite of the way it is in English language. The z-y change is probably the simplest, since those two letters simply switch places, with the y now in the lower left corner and the z being between t and u.

14. At that place are lots of German-English cognates

Since the two languages share a common past, at that place are lots of similar German and English words. A cognate is a word that looks or sounds similar to a word of the same meaning in another language.

Then, German words that audio like English, or vice versa, and have the same definition are cognates. While some of these are more than recent and can be attributed to the office of English in technology, many of them are just shared words!

Some of the nearly obvious cognates are nouns, since you don't have to deal with conjugations or case endings, but you lot can find similar words in every aspect of the language.

Some noun cognates you might come across include:

• Vater –> begetter
• Sonne –> sun
• Pass –> passport
• Schuhe –> shoe
• Haus –> business firm
• Wasser –> water

German and English language also share plenty of describing word cognates:

• kompetent –> competent
• musikalisch –> musical
• kreativ –> creative
• freundlich –> friendly
• normal –> normal

There are also some verbs, though y'all do accept to watch for conjugations:

• rannte –> (I) ran
• schwimmen –> (to) swim/swimming
• trinke –> (I) drink
• sehe –> (I) run into
• fallen –> (to) fall/falling.

While there are plenty of truthful cognates, there are also some false cognates that may trip learners upwards. For case, Art means 'way, kind' not 'art,' and baldheaded doesn't mean 'bald,' only 'soon.' You generally learn these through trial, error, and relying on context as best you tin can.

15. Like English, German has a lot of homonyms

For those who are trying to recall their English grammar classes, homonyms are words that sound the same merely accept different meanings, and sometimes different spellings.

English language has some famously misused homonyms, such equally in that location-their-they're, your-you lot're, and its-it'southward. However, there are also some that are less mutual, such as bat-bat, thyme-time, and hour-our (or our-are, depending on accent).

German also has homonyms that tin can trip up native and non-native speakers alike. For case, Bank can mean 'bank' or 'bench,' and 'sauer' can hateful 'sour' or 'mad.'

Similar in English, in that location are some tricks for sure High german homonyms that can help speakers distinguish between the different meanings. For one, some homonyms use different cases.

Die Band is a music ring, simply das Band is a ribbon, tape, or belt, and der Ring is a volume (like in a book serial). Der Leiter for 'leader' and die Leiter for 'ladder' likewise has this handy fox.

16. German and English also infringe words from i some other

While this is common in a lot of languages, it'due south interesting to look at the High german words used in English today that nosotros don't always realize came from our sister language!

Many of the most common words in English have a Germanic origin. An case of this is 'have,' which comes from Proto-Germanic 'habejanan,' and is clearly related to the modern High german habe(n).

The shared words get beyond this though. 'Pretzel' and 'strudel' are perhaps the about obvious examples of English words that came from German language, but 'iceberg,' 'poltergeist,' 'Neanderthal,' and 'noodle' are also all German words that English language borrowed.

Of this list, strudel, poltergeist, and Neanderthal are spelled the aforementioned in both languages, while pretzel –> Brezel, iceberg –> Eisberg, and noodle –> Nudel.

The reverse is likewise true, with there likewise being German words that came from English. Every bit mentioned, a lot of new English language words in High german come from technology, but even when we ignore examples from the tech world, such equally laptop, there are plenty of borrowed words!

Some examples include chore, t-shirt, joggen, and super. Similar with the German words in English language, the spellings of these borrowed words haven't really changed. More interestingly, task and joggen are both still pronounced with the j sound, not the traditional German y!

17. Knowing English language or German tin help with your job prospects

Equally mentioned under the History department, both English and German take been important languages at dissimilar points in time. English is currently the most widely spoken language in the globe, with German falling at number 12.

Both the English-speaking and the German-speaking worlds have a large number of tech jobs, and Frg is one of the prime locations for businesses.

Frg is likewise an important place in the field of science, medicine, and research development, making knowing the language a plus for anyone interested in going into those fields.

This means that if you speak one or both of these languages, and then your task prospects are looking up!

Conclusion

If you liked this list of English-German similarities, and then check out our listing of German proverbs and High german fun facts! Or perhaps you want a translation app that can help you with those declensions and fake cognates.

If you are already learning German and looking for the next steps, then we also have apps, podcasts, and more to help yous on your journey.

Bis bald!

hallidayponot1941.blogspot.com

Source: https://learnlanguagesfromhome.com/english-german-similarities-differences/

Share this post