German

German (German: Deutsch) is a Germanic language spoken in Central-Western Europe, mainly Germany, Austria and northern Switzerland.

As a Germanic language it is sometimes considered a cousin of English. Much of the grammar for German is generally similar to English, but more complex, e.g. German still has a dative form. German speakers are often able to learn English well.

In German, by orthographic convention, all nouns are capitalised.

There are a number of cognates between English and German, mostly everyday words. Some particularly obvious true friends exist in family nouns and body parts:

NB: (German first, English translation in brackets):

• Family nouns. Bruder (brother), Vater (father), Großvater (grandfather), Großmutter (grandmother), Mutter (mother), Onkel (uncle), Sohn (son), Schwester (sister), Tante (aunt), Tochter (daughter),
• Body parts: Arm (arm), Brust (breast), Ellenbogen (elbow), Finger (finger), Fuß (foot), Hand (hand), Haar (hair), Knie (knee), Knöchel (ankle), Lippe (lip), Nase (nose), Ohr (ear), Schulter (shoulder)
• Days of the week: Montag (Monday), Dienstag (Tuesday), Mittwoch (Wednesday, literally “midweek,” which replaced earlier Wodenstag), Donnerstag (Thurdsay), Freitag (Friday), Samstag (Saturday), Sonntag (Sunday).

German Hund, English "hound,” meaning dog.

Note that the German word for German, Deutsch, is a false friend with the English word Dutch which is the adjective for Holland/the Netherlands.