Grammar Groups, alphabet groups, and countries which speak the same languages

 Learning languages is easier if you learn a language with the same grammar structure or pronunciation or vocabulary. However, it is also easier if you understand at a glance the basics of another system.

German & Japanese

English and other Subject Verb Object Languages

Subject Verb Object is SVO for short. English is SVO. I love you. German is SOV. The verb is usually at the end of the sentence. 

Some languages and some lengths of setnece or sentences copied from other languages change this rule. 

Chinese - The Missing Verb To Be

Some languages do not use the ver to be. Instead of I am Angela, I can simply introduce myself as I Angela. That happens in Chinese. So the pronunciation might be difficult, but the grammar is easier. Think of it as having either pronunciation or grammar to make the meaning clearer or more precise.

Without the verb to be, you can say in other language, I Angela, I happy. That would mean I am Angela. I am happy. Those are statements. Equally easy are questions. You  Susan. That would mean are you Susan. You happy would mean you are happy or are you happy. 

There are not only two sentence structures, but six. fortunately most well known languages use the two most common structures. 

Useful Websites

Simple Wikipedia SVO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject%E2%80%93verb%E2%80%93object_word_order

https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/global-english/

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German for Soup and soap and supper

German is a handy language to learn. You can use it in Europe in Germany, Austria and  parts of Switzerland.

Many words look similar. But beware of misleading appearances, what the French call false friends. 

The first pair I had trouble with was soap. 

SOAP

Who would have guessed it was Seife in German. Who can remember it? I couldn't. I am now up to 33% fluent in Duolingo and I've already forgotten soap. So let me re-visit the word. 

Let's start with the first letter and what is easy to remember. 

 How is it pronounced? You pronounce the second letter in German. Sigh - fur like cipher. So I shall remember sigh for soap. 

 English - German soap - die Seife 

The next word which confused me was soup.

SOUP

soup - Suppe 

SUPPER

The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci. 

The last evening meal of Jesus and his disciples.

supper - abendessen 

Abendessen - essen=to eat; Abend is evening. I think of it as after six pm and end of the day. or ab=from; + end, + eat (delicatessen is delicate eating or delicate stuff to eat). 

 

Flag of Germany.

German - English

abend - evening

abendessen - supper (evening meal)

seife - soap

suppe - soup

vorabend - Eve (night before as in Christmas eve)

English - German

Eve (night before as in Christmas Eve) vorabend

evening - abend

soap - seife

soup - suppe

supper - abendessen

About the Author

 Angela Lansbury, author and English teacher and languages tutor. Please share links to your favourite posts and websites. 

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Pictures of Angela in different dresses and poses with props and advice on where to buy vintage clothes and co-ordinate and convert clothes, large to small, small to large, short to long, shorts to skirts, pillowcases to tops and bolsters to dresses.

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

 l Free Language Learning sites 

duolingo.com 

PortableGerman.com 

Wiktionary.com

 

USEFUL WEBSITES

Polyglot page on Facebook for asking friends for advice.

 Free Language Learning sites 

duolingo.com 

PortableGerman.com 

Wiktionary.com 

Easy German look like English words

So many words in German look almost the same and sound almost the same. 

 A-D als - all besser - better E-K Eis - ice or ice cream Fische - fish (remember capital letters for nouns in German, but not in English) Ich - I ist - is garten - garden Haus - house Hund - hound/dog kann - can katze - cat Klub - club 

 L-R leichter - lighter (pronounce the second vowel, ignoring the e, like George) mein/ meine - mine Muss - a must (the capital letter tells you it's a noun and not a verb) nasen - nose p f e f f e r - pepper 

 S-Z s a l z - salt as in S a l z burg t o c h t e r - daughter Zoo - zoo

 I stop for a coffee break and review a few German words with a family member of colleague. What is a snack? i m b i s s . 

German - English

als - all

besser - better

Eis - ice

Fische - fish

ich - I

ist - is

Garten - garden

Haus - house

Hund - hound/dog

Imbiss - snack

mein/meine - mine

muss - must

Nasen - nose

Pfeffer - pepper

Salz - salt

Tochter - daughter

Zoo - zoo

English - German

all - als

better - besser

daughter - Tochter

dog/hound - Hund

fish - Fische

garden - Garten

house - Haus

I - ich

ice - eis

is - ist

mine - mein/meine

must - muss

pepper - Pfeffer

salt - Salz

snack - Imbiss

zoo - Zoo

 Angela Lansbury, English tutor and language teacher.

Please share links to your favourite posts.