It might be challenging to learn a new language. It’s complexity depends on many factors. Is German more complicated than English?
Is German more complicated than English?
It’s difficult to say whether English or German is more complex. As you are probably aware, English is one of the world’s easiest languages to learn. That may be true for some people, but not for others.
It is actually determined by your first language and whether or not you are multilingual. For example, if you speak French, learning German will be much easier for you.
However, if you speak German, you will most likely pick up English faster than German. Speaking a language similar to the one you’re learning, on the other hand, may be harmful, according to some linguists.
In reality, if you believe the language is too simple, you may be exaggerating your linguistic abilities.
German vs English
In order for you to reach your own judgment, three key factors must be compared:
- Vocabulary
- Grammar
- Pronunciation and spelling
Both languages use the same alphabet. So you won’t be too lost if you already speak a language with the same alphabetic writing system and are thinking about learning one or the other. That is unquestionably a bonus!
German vs English: vocabulary
Although English has the most vocabulary of any language, it does not have a word for everything. Every language has words and expressions that are unique to that language and are extremely difficult or impossible to translate into another.
Contrary to popular belief, the Eskimos do not have fifty words for snow, but German gemütlich requires several words to describe it in English: cozy, comfortable, warm, inviting, and hospitable.
Sometimes these words or expressions are completely adopted into another language, such as Kindergarten and Gesundheit (health) from German into English. Despite the assertion, it is nearly impossible to verify.
Steven Frank, the author of The Pen Commandments, claims that English has 500,000 words, while German has 135,000 and French has fewer than 100,000. According to the 2016 Oxford English Dictionary, the English language contains 26% Germanic, 29% French, 29% Latin, 6% Greek, and the remaining 10% is derived from other languages and proper names.
German vs English: grammar
The only way to achieve fluency in German is to master the sentence structure. Knowing which rules to use to construct your sentences makes a big difference. As a result, we’ve compiled every rule on German sentence structure you’ll need to succeed.
Never question German word order again; simply speak fluently and comfortably. In German, you’ll frequently have to use two verbs in a sentence. It’s best to get used to how it works in a sentence, whether you’re speaking in the past tense or have a complex idea.
Fortunately, it is not difficult. One of your verbs will take precedence.
If you’re speaking in the past tense, it’ll be “haben” (to have). The dominant verb comes first in German. And it is this one that you conjugate.
The secondary verb is either left in the infinitive form or conjugated according to past tense rules. The second verb must then be added at the end of the sentence.
Inverted Word Order in German
This rule has no real counterpart in modern English, though older, poetic English may contain instances of it. To put it simply, whenever a sentence or clause begins with anything other than the subject, that first word is immediately followed by a verb.
The verb is followed by the subject, followed by objects and adverbial constructions.
German vs English: pronunciation and spelling
German pronunciation is not only logical, but it is also very similar in many ways to English and many other Indo-European languages. Why people think German speakers always sound angry has always fascinated me.
The German language has the same “r” sound as French, which many people find beautiful.
It honestly baffles me because beauty, in my opinion, is in the eye of the beholder (or in this case… the language learner?).
When learning to write German, you will notice that there are eight different vowels – a, e, I o, u, as well as those with umlauts ä, ö, and ü. There are 22 consonants in the language: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, and Eszett ß.
They have thirty letters, but far more sounds than letters. They have letter blocks that form syllables.
Fahrenheit, Strudel, Zeppelin, Schadenfreude, Kindergarten, Hamburger, Leitmotiv, Wanderlust, Rucksack, Poltergeist, Glockenspiel, Rottweiler, and Gestalt are just a few of the German words that have made their way into English.
Did you recognize any of these? Consider how they are pronounced in English.
Is German really complicated?
German, in my opinion, is more formulaic, making charts and logical explanations easier to use. Nonetheless, the grammar is extensive.
Many people sound extremely natural and quickly achieve intermediate proficiency. Even with a wealth of knowledge, those individuals may struggle to explain particularly complex concepts.
German is possibly more easily understood. Even if students do not develop extremely correct verb forms, they can grasp and comprehend the “stem.”
English is more unpredictable because of its origins. The rules are very intricate (particularly in terms of phonetics), yet there are no gendered nouns and only a few verb tenses.
It will be more difficult to sound natural while writing or speaking, but it won’t be as difficult to express academic concepts. I truly don’t know, but as a native speaker of the other language, I feel more qualified to describe the special difficulties and benefits of learning either language.
