Table of Germanic Vocabulary Cognates Across English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish

By J. Wes Ulm, MD, PhD

Medical researcher, physician, linguist, and author

Echoes of the Mystic Chords: A Novel, Book One of The Leibniz Demon Trilogy

The table below is a comprehensive though still partial list of core Germanic vocabulary for which English retains close cognates, in both meaning and spelling, with its fellow Germanic languages. To illustrate this, and to facilitate rapid learning of this valuable vocabulary for anyone studying German, Dutch, or the Scandinavian languages, I’ve included hundreds of essential words in English side-by-side with their cognates in the other Germanic tongues. For the other two West Germanic languages (German and Dutch), I’ve also listed the definite article for each noun. German has three such articles – der (masculine), die (feminine), and das (neuter), while Dutch has common (de) and neuter (het) articles. (In most cases, a “das” neuter article in German implies a corresponding “het” neuter article in Dutch.)

The North Germanic (Scandinavian) equivalents have been provided without articles (which are customarily appended as suffixes, after a standalone noun, rather than preceding it). Several of the English words have abbreviations in parentheses just to their right, while many of the translated terms have asterisks or other special characters (e.g. # or $) to indicate notes which will be spelled out following the table. Where another Germanic language uses a different term to translate the English word (i.e. a non-cognate, Germanic or otherwise), I’ve enclosed the equivalent term in parentheses. (Parentheses enclosing just a part of a term indicate e.g. a prefix or suffix that is sometimes added to the cognate word root.) To avoid getting bogged down in prefacing here, I’ve left the key to these abbreviations, the asterisked notes, the pronunciation guides, and other explanatory bits as follow-ups to the table.

English

German

Dutch

Norwegian

Swedish

Danish

acorn

die Eichel

de eikel

eikenøtt

ekollon

agern

after

(nach)

(na)

etter

efter

again

(wieder)

(weer)

igjen

igen

against

gegen

tegen

(imot)

(mot)

(mod)

all

alle

alla

alle

almighty

allmächtig

almachtig

allmektig

allsmäktig

almægtig

alone

allein

alleen

alene

allena

alene

along

entlang

langs

längs

langs

ein

een

and

und

och

angling

die Angel

het hengelen

(fisking)

(mete)

(lystfisker)

answer

die Antwort

het antwoord

svar

ant

die Ameise

(mier)

(maur)

ant

ape

der Affe

de aap

ape

apa

abe

apple

der Apfel

de appel

eple

äpple

æble

are

(sind)

(zijn)

är

arm

der Arm

de arm

arm

arrange (Fr)

arrangieren

rangschikken

arranger

arrangera

arrangere

als

(som)

ash

der Asche

de as

aske

aska

aske

away

weg

(borte)

(bort)

væk

axe

die Axt

(de bijl)

øks

yxa

økse

axle

die Achse

de as

aksel

axel

aksel

back (adverb)

(zurück)

(terug)

tilbake

tillbaka

tilbage

backing

(der Rückhalt)

(de steun)

oppbakking

uppbackning

opbakning

bake

backen

bakken

bake

baka

bage

balcony (Fr)

der Balkon

het balkon

balkong

(altan)

ball

der Ball

de bal

ball

boll

bold

balloon (Ital)

der Ballon

de ballon

ballong

ballon

ban (ON & Fr)

verbannen

(forby)

(förbjuda)

(forbyde)

band (ribbon)

die Band

de band

band

bandit (Ital)

der Bandit

de bandiet

banditt

bandit

barefoot

barfuß

blootsvoets

barfot

barfota

barfodet

baron (Fr)

der Baron

de baron

baron

bath

das Bad

het bad

bad

bathe

baden

bade

bada

bade

beacon

(das Leuchtfeuer); (das Fanal)

de baken

(sjømerke)

fyrbåk

(ledestjerne)

bean

die Bohne

de boon

bønne

böna

bønne

bear (n)

der Bär

de beer

bjørn

björn

bjørn

bear (vb)

gebären

baren

bære

bära

bære

beard

der Bart

de baard

(skjegg)*

(skägg)*

(skæg)*

beaver

der Bieber

de bever

bever

bäver

bæver

bed

das Bett

het bed

(seng)

(säng)

(seng)

bee

die Biene

de bij

bie

beer

das Bier

het bier

øl**

öl**

øl**

beeswax

das Bienenwachs

de bijenwas

bivoks

bivax

bivoks

bell

(die Glocke)

de bel

bjell***

bjällra

(klokke)

begin

beginnen

begynne

(börja)

begynde

(be)hind

hinter

(achter)

(bak)

(bakom)

(bag)

bench

die Bank

de bank

benk

bank

bænk

berry

die Beere

de bes

bær

bär

bær

best

beste

best

beste

bäst

bedst

better

besser

beter

bedre

bättre

bedre

(be)tween

zwischen

tussen

(mellom)

(mellan)

(mellem)

bid (vb)

bieten

aanbieden

tilbud

bjuda

byde

bier

die Bahre

de baar

bier

bår

bier

bind

binden

binde

binda

binde

birch

die Birke

de berk

bjørk

björk

birk

birth

die Geburt

de geboorte

(fødsel)

(födelse)

(fødsel)

birthday

der Geburtstag

de geboortedag

(fødselsdag)****

(födelsedag)****

(fødselsdag)****

(a) bit

ein bisschen

een beetje

bit

bite

beißen

bijten

bite

bita

bide

bitter

blade

das Blatt

het blad

blad

(klinge)*****

blank (Fr)

(leer)

(leeg)

blank

(tomt)

blasé (Fr)

blasiert

blasé

blasert

blasé

blaserte

bleach

bleichen

bleken

blekne

bleka

blege

bleed

bluten

bloeden

blø

blöda

bløde

blind

blink

blinken

(knipperen)

blinke

blinka

blinke

blister (Fr)

die Blase

de blaar

(blemme)

blåsa

blære

block (Fr)

der Block

het blok

blokk

block

blok

blond (Fr)

blond

blood

das Blut

het bloed

blod

bloodbath

das Blutbad

het bloedbad

blodbad

bloodstream

der Blutstrom

de bloedstroom

blodstrøm

blod strömma

blodstrøm

bloom

blühen

bloeien

blomstre

blomma

blomstre

blow

blasen

blazen

blåse

blåsa

blæse

blue (Fr)

blau

blauw

blå

blueberry

die Blaubeere

(de bosbes)

blåbær

blåbär

blåbær

boat

das Boot

de boot

båt

båd

bolt

der Bolzen

de bout

bolt

bult

bolt

bond

die Bindung

de binding

bånd

band

bånd

book

das Buch

het boek

bok

boka

bog

booth (ON)

die Bude

(de kraam)

bod

bås

bod

booty (Fr)

die Beute

de buit

bytte

byte

byttet

bore (drill)

bohren

boren

bore

borra

bore

(be) born

geboren

(født)

(född)

(født)

borrow#

borgen

(lenen)

(låne)

(låna)

(låne)

both (ON)

beide

både

begge

bottom

der Boden

de bodem

bunn

botten

bund

bouquet (Fr)

das Bukett

het boeket

bukett

buket

bow (n)

der Bogen

de boog

bue

båge

bue

bow (v)

beugen

buigen

bøye

böja

bøje (sig)

bread

das Brot

het brood

brød

bröd

brød

break

brechen

breken

bryte

bryta

brække

break up

aufbrechen

opbreken

(slå opp)

bryta upp

(slå opp)

breast

die Brust

de borst

bryst

bröst

bryst

brew

brauen

brouwen

brygge

brygga

brygge

bride

die Braut

de bruid

brud

bridge

die Brücke

de brug

bro

bring

bringen

brengen

bringe

bringa

bringe

broad

breit

breet

bred

brother

der Bruder

de broer

bror

brown

braun

bruin

brun

buckwheat

der Buchweizen

het boekweit

bokhvete

bovete

boghvede

burn

brennen

(ver)branden

brenne

bränna

brænde

bush

der Busch

(struik)

busk

buske

busk

busy

(beschäftigt)

bezig

(opptatt)

(upptagen)

(optaget)

cake

der Kuchen

de koek

kake

kaka

kage

chew

kauen

kauwen

(tygge)

(tugga)

(tygge)

chin

das Kinn

de kin

(hake)

(haka)

(hage)

clammy

klamm

klam

(fuktig)

klam

claw

die Klaue

de klauw

klo

clothing

die (Be)kleidung

de kleding

klær

kläder

(tøj)

clover

der Klee

de klaver

kløver

klöver

kløver

coal

die Kohle

de (steen)kool

kull

kol

kul

cold

kalt

koud

kalt

kall

kold

comb

der Kamm

de kam

kam

come

kommen

komen

komme

komma

komme

cool

kühl

koel

kjølig

kylig

køligt

cow

die Kuh

de koe

crib

die Krippe

de krib

krybbe

krubba

krybbe

crow

die Krähe

de kraai

kråke

kråka

krage

crumb

die Krume

de kruimel

(smule)

(smula)

krumme

dam

der Damm

de dam

demning

damm

dæmning

daughter

die Tochter

de dochter

datter

dotter

datter

day

der Tag

de dag

dag

daylight

das Tageslicht

het daglicht

dagslys

dagsljus

dagslys

dead

tot

dood

død

död

død

deaf

taub

doof

døv

döv

døv

deed

die Tat

de daad

dåd

deep

tief

diep

dyp

djup

dyb

devil

der Teufel

de duivel

djevel

djävul

djævel

dew

der Tau

de dauw

dugg

dagg

dug

tun

doen

(gjøre)

(göra)

(gøre)

door

die Tür

de deur

dør

dörr

dør

dough

der Teig

het deeg

deig

deg

dej

dove

die Taube

de duif

due

duva

due

drink

trinken

drinken

drikke

dricka

drikke

drinking water

das Trinkwasser

het drinkwater

drikkevann

dricksvatten

drikkevand

drip

tropfen

druipen

dryppe

droppa

dryppe

drought

die Dürre

de droogte

tørke

torka

tørke

dry

trocken

droog

tørke

torr

tørre

dumb

dumm

dom

dum

dwarf

der Zwerg

de dwerg

dverg

dvärg

dværg

ear

das Ohr

het oor

øre

öra

øre

earth

die Erde

de aarde

jord

Easter

Ostern

(Pasen)

(Påske)

(Påsk)

(Påske)

east

der Osten

het oosten

øst

öster

øst

eat

essen

eten

ete

äta

æde

eel

der Aal

de aaal

ål

egg (ON)

das Ei

het ei

egg

ägg

æg

elbow

der Ellbogen

de elleboog

albue

(armbåge)

albue

end

das Ende

einde

enden

änd

ende

enough

genug

genoeg

nok

nog

nok

etiquette (Fr)

die Etikette

de etiquette

etikette

etikett

etikette

eye

das Auge

het oog

øye

öga

øje

eyebrow

die Augenbraue

(de wenkbrauw)

øyenbryn

ögonbryn

øjenbryn

eyelid

das Augenlid

het ooglid

øyelokk

ögonlock

øjenlåg

fall

fallen

vallen

falle

falla

falde

fang

der Fang

(de hoektand)

fang

far

fern

ver

(langt)

(långt)

(langt)

fat

fett

vet

fett

fedt

father

der Vater

de vader

far

fader

far

fear

die Furcht

de vrees

frykt

fruktan

frygt

feather

die Feder

de veer

fjær

fjäder

feed

füttern

voeden

(mate)

föda

fodre

feel

fühlen

voelen

føle

(känna)

føle

felt (n)

der Filz

het vilt

filt

field

das Feld

het veld

felt

fält

felt

fill

füllen

vullen

fylle

fylla

fylde

fill out (form)

aus füllen

invullen

fylle ut

fylla ut

udfylde

filter

das Filter

het Filter

filter

find

finden

vinden

finne

finna

finde

find out

herausfinden

(te weten komen)

finne ut

(ta reda på)

finde ud (af)

finger

der Finger

de vinger

finger

fingernail

der Fingernagel

de vingernagel

fingernegl

fingernagel

fingernegl

fire

das Feuer

het vuur

(brann)

(brand)

fireworks

das Feuerwerk

het vuurwerk

fyrverkeri

fyrværkeri

fish

der Fisch

de vis

fisk

flat

flach

vlak

flat

(platt)

flad

flea

der Floh

de vlo

loppe

loppa

(loppe)

fleet

die Flotte

de vloot

flåte

flotta

flåde

flutter

flattern

fladderen

flagre

fladdra

flagren

fly (vb)

fliegen

vliegen

fly

flyga

flyve

foal

das Fohlen

het veulen

føll

föl

føl

fold

falten

vouwen

(brette)

fällas

folde

folk

das Volk

het volk

folk

folgen

volgen

følge

följa

følge

foot

der Fuß

de voet

fot

fod

for

für

voor

for

för

for

forbid

verbieten

verbieden

forby

förbjuda

forbyde

ford

die Furt

(de doorwaadbare plaats)

ford

(vadested)

foresight

die Voraussicht

de vooruitziendheid

framsyn

framsynthet

fremsyn

fox

der Fuchs

de vos

(rev)

(räv)

(ræv)

free

frei

vrij

fri

freeze

frieren

(be)vriezen

fryse

frysa

fryse

fresh

frisch

vers

fersk

färsk

frisk

Friday

Freitag

vrijdag

fredag

Fredag

frog

der Frosch

(de kikker)

frosk

(groda)

frø

frost

der Frost

de vorst

frost

garden

der Garten

(de tuin)

(hage)

(trädgård)

(have)

ghost

der Geist

de geest

(spøkelse)

(spoke)

(spøgelse)

gifted

begabt

begaafd

begavet

begåvad

begavede

give (ON)

geben

geven

give

give up

aufgeben

opgeven

gi opp

ge upp

give op

glass

das Glas

het glas

glass

glas

gleam

der Glanz

de glans

glimte

glimt

glide

gleiten

glijden

gli

glida

glide

glow

glühen

gloeien

gløde

glöda

glæde

gehen

gaan

gå

goat

die Geiß

de geit

geit

get

ged

God

Gott

God

Gud

gold

das Gold

het goud

gull

guld

good

gut

goed

god##

god

goose

die Gans

de gans

gås

grass

das Gras

het gras

gress

gräs

græs

grave

das Grab

het graf

grav

gray

grau

grijs

grå

graze

grasen

grazen

gresse

(beta)

græsse

greet

(be) grüßen

(be)groeten

(hilse)

(hälsa)

(hilse)

grip

der Griff

de greep

grep

grepp

greb

grisly

grässlich

griezelig

(uhyggelig)

(hemsk)

(uhyggelig)

grits (groats)

Grütze

grutten

gryn

gröpe

gryn

ground

der Grund

de grond

(jord) or (bake)

grund###

grund

group (Fr)

die Gruppe

de groep

gruppe

grupp

gruppe

grow

(wachsen)####

groeien

(vokse)

(växa)

gro

guest (ON)

der Gast

de gast

gjest

gäst

gæst

hair

das Haar

de haar

hår

half

halb

half

halv

hammer

der Hammer

de hamer

hammer

hammare

hammer

hamster (Ger.)

der Hamster

de hamster

hamster

hand

die Hand

de hand

hånd

hand

hånd

handbook

das Handbuch

het handboek

håndbok

handbok

håndbog

handle

(be)handeln

(be)handelen

håndtere

hantera

håndtere

hang

hängen

hangen

henge

hänga

hænge

hard

hart

hard

hård

hårdt

harp

die Harfe

de harp

harpe

harpa

harpe

hasty

hastig

haastig

forhastet

förhastade

forhastet

hate

hassen

haten

hate

hata

hade

have

haben

hebben

have

have on

anhaben

hebben op

ha på

have på

hawk

der Habicht

de havik

hauk

hök

høg

hay

das Heu

het hooi

høy

hö

hø

heap

der Haufen

de hoop

haug

hög

bunke

hear

hören

horen

høre

höra

høre

heart

das Herz

het hart

hjerte

hjärta

hjerte

hedge

die Hecke

de heg

hekk

hack

hæk

helmet

der Helm

de helm

hjelm

hjälm

hjelm

help (vb)

helfen

helpen

hjelpe

hjälp

hjælpe

here

hier

her

här

her

high

hoch

hoog

høy

hög

høj

hill

der Hügel

de heuvel

høyde

(kulle)

(bakke)

hinder

hindern

hinderen

hindre

hindra

hindre

hip

die Hüfte

de heup

hofte

hoft

hofte

hollow

hohl

hol

hul

ihålig

hule

holy

heilig

hellig

helig

hellig

home

das Heim(at)

(het huis)

hjem

hem

hjem

honey

der Honig

de honing

honing

honung

honing

hop

hüpfen

huppelen

hoppe

hoppa

hoppe

hope (vb)

hoffen

hopen

håpe

hoppas

håbe

horn

das Horn

de hoorn

horn

hot

heiß

heet

heit#####

het

hed

house

das Haus

het huis

hus

household

der Haushalt

het huishouden

(husstand)

hushåll

husholdning

howl

heulen

huilen

hyle

yla

hyle

hunger

der Hunger

de honger

(sult)

hunger

hurdle

die Hürde

de horde

(hinder)

(forhindring)

hut (Ger.)

die Hütte

de hut

hytte

hydda

hytte

ice

das Eis

het ijs

income

das Einkommen

het inkomen

(inntekt)

inkomst

indkomst

install (Fr)

installieren

installeren

installere

installera

installere

itch

das Jucken

de jeuk

(klø)

(klia)

(kløe)

ivy

der Efeu

(de klimop)

eføy

(murgröna)

efeu

kindergarten (Ger.)

der Kindergarten

(de kleuterschool)

(barnehage)

kindergarten

(børnehave)

knee

das Knie

de knie

kne

knä

knæ

knot (n)

der Knoten

de knot

knute

knut

knude

know (IE)

kennen$

kennen

(vite)

känna

kende

ladder

die Leiter

de ladder

(stige)

)stege)

(stige)

lair

das Lager

het leger

(hule)

lya

(hule)

lamb

das Lamm

het lam

lam

lamm

lam

lark

die Lerche

de leeuwerik

lerke

lärka

lærke

last (adj)

letzte

laatste

(siste)

(sista)

(sidste)

lay

legen

leggen

legge

lägga

lægge

leader

der Leiter

de leider

leder

ledare

leder

lean (vb)

lehnen

leunen

lene

(luta)

læne

learn

lernen

leren

lære

lära (sig)

lære

leather

das Leder

het leer

lær

läder

læder

let

lassen

laten

låta

lade

lick

lecken

liken

slikke

slicka

slikke

lie (down)

liegen

liggen

legge (seg)

ligga

ligge

lie (say an untruth)

lügen

leugen

lyve

ljuga

live

leben$$

leven

leve

leva

leve

liver

die Leber

de lever

lever

lip (IE)

die Lippe

de lip

leppe

läpp

læbe

loose (ON)

lose

los

løs

lösa

lose

verlieren

verliezen

(tape)

förlora

(tabe)

love

lieben

liefhebben

(elske)

(älska)

(elske)

luck

das Glück

het geluk

(flaks)

lycka

lykke

lukewarm

lauwarm

lauw

lunken

ljummen

lunken

lung

die Lunge

de long

lunge

lunga

lunge

maggot (ON)

die Made

de made

mark

mask

maddike

maiden

das Mädchen

het meisje

(jomfru)

(jungfru)

(jomfru)

manifold (adj)

mannigfaltig

(veelvuldig)

mangfoldig

mångfaldig

mangfoldig

marrow

das Mark

het merg

marg

märg

marv

mast

der Mast

de mast

mast

mean (vb)

meinen

menen

mene

mena

mene

mild

Monday

Montag

maandag

mandag

måndag

mandag

month (IE)

das Monat

demaand

måned

månad

måned

moon

der Mond

de maan

måne

mehr

meer

mer

mere

mother (IE)

die Mutter

de moeder

mor

mouth

der Mund

de mond

munn

mun

mund

must

müssen

moeten

må

måste

må

naked

nackt

naakt

naken

nøgen

name

der Name

de naam

navn

namn

navn

neighbor

der Nachbar

(de buurman)

nabo

(granne)

nabo

nest

das Nest

het nest

(rede)

(bo)

(rede)

network

das Netzwerk

het netwerk

nettverk

nätverk

netværk

naast

neste

nästa

næste

night (IE)

die Nacht

de nacht

natt

nat

nightingale

die Nachtigall

de nachtegaal

nattergal

näktergal

nattergal

noodle (Ger.)

die Nudel

(de mie)

nudler

nudel

nose

die Nase

de neus

nese

näsa

næse

nosebleed

das Nasenbluten

de neusbloeding

neseblødning

näsblod

næseblod

now

nun

nå

oath

der Eid

de eed

old

alt

oud

(gammel)

(gammal)

(gammel)

open

offen

open

åpen

öppet

åben

outbreak

der Ausbruch

de uitbraak

utbrudd

utbrott

udbrud

overshadow

überschatten

overschaduwen

overskygge

överskugga

overskygge

own (adj)

eigen

egen

der Ochse

de os

okse

oxe

okse

park (Fr)

der Park

het park

park

path

der Pfad

het pad

(sti)

(bana)

(sti)

plow (ON)

der Pflug

de ploeg

plog

plöja

pløje

plunder (Ger.)

plündern

plunderen

plyndre

plundra

plyndre

rain (n)

der Regen

de regen

regn

raw

roh

rauw

rå

reach (vb)

(er)reichen

(be)reiken

(nå)

reckon

rechnen

rekenen

regner

räkna

regne

red

rot

rood

rød

röd

rød

riddle

das Rätsel

het raadsel

(gate)

(gåta)

(gåde)

ride

reiten

rijden

rida

ride

ripe

reif

rijp

(moden)

(mogen)

(moden)

roast

rösten

roosteren

(steke)

rosta

riste

rob

rauben

(be)roven

(rane)

(råna)

røve

room

der Raum

de ruimte

rom

rum

rot

verrotten

rotten

råtne

ruttna

rådne

rough

rau

ruw

grov

rusty

rostig

roestig

rusten

rostig

rusten

saddle

der Sattel

het zadel

sal

sadel

salt

das Salz

het zout

salt

saltwater

das Salzwasser

het zoutwater

saltvann

saltvatten

saltvand

salve

die Salbe

de zalf

salve

salva

salve

sand

der Sand

het zand

sand

sap

der Saft

het sap

sevje

sav

saft

saw (n)

die Säge

de zaag

sag

såg

sav

say

sagen

zeggen

säga

sige

scary

schaurig

(eng)

skummelt

skrämmande

skræmmende

scrape (ON)

(schaben)

schrapen

skrape

skrapa

skrabe

scratch

kratzen

krassen

(ripe) or (klø)

(repa) or (klia)

kradse

scream (ON)

schreien

uitschreeuwen

skrike

skrika

skrige

screen (Fr)

der (Bild)schirm

het scherm

skjerm

skärm

skærm

sea

die See

de zee

sjø

(hav)

see

sehen

zien

seed

die Saat

het zaad

(frø)

säd

(frø)

seek

suchen

zoeken

søke

söka

søge

seldom

selten

zelden

sjeldent

sällan

sjældent

settle

siedeln

(zich vestigen)

(bo)sette

sätta

bosætte

shadow

der Schatten

de schaduw

skygge

skugga

skygge

shaft

der Schaft

de schacht

skaft

shame

die Schande

de schaamte

skam

sharp

scharf

scherpshe

skarp

she

sie

(hun)

(hon)

(hun)

sheep

das Schaf

het schaap

(får)

shell

die Schale

de schelp

skall

skal

shield

das Schild

het schild

skjold

sköld

skjold

shinbone

das Schienbein

het scheenbeen

skinnelegg

skenben

skinneben

shine

scheinen

schijnen

skinne

skina

skinne

ship

das Schiff

het schip

skip

skepp

skib

shirt

(das Hemd)

(het hemd)

skjorte

skjorta

skjorte

shock (Fr)

der Schock

de schok

sjokk

chock

chok

shoe

der Schuh

de schoen

sko

shoot (vb)

schießen

schieten

skyte

skjuta

skyde

shun

scheuen$$$

schuwen

sky

shy

scheu

schuw

(sjenert)

(blyg)

sky$$$$

sick

(krank)

ziek

syk

sjuk

syg

sieve

das Sieb

de zeef

sil

sikt

silver

das Silber

het zilver

sølv

silver

sølv

sin

die Sünde

de zonde

synd

sinew

die Sehne

de zenuw

sene

sena

sene

sing

singen

zingen

synge

sjunga

synge

sink (vb)

sinken

zinken

synke

sjunka

synke

sister (ON)

die Schwester

de zus

søster

syster

søster

sit (IE)

sitzen

zitten

sitte

sitta

sidde

skull (ON)

der Schädel

de schedel

(hode)skalle

skalle

(kranium)

sleep

schlafen

slapen

sove

sova

sove

sly (ON)

schlau

sluw

sly

slug

(snu)

smear

schmieren

smeren

smøre$$$$$

smeta

smøre

smuggle (LG)

schmuggeln

smokkelen

smugle

smuggla

smugle

sneeze

niesen

niezen

nyse

nysa

nyse

snore

schnarchen

snurken

snorke

snarka

snorke

snow

der Schnee

de sneeuw

snø

snö

sne

soap

die Seife

de zeep

såpe

såpa

sæbe

son

der Sohn

de zoon

sønn

son

søn

sorely

sehr

zeer

sårt

(svårt)

(hårdt)

soul

die Seele

de ziel

sjel

själ

sjæl

soup (Fr)

die Suppe

de soep

suppe

soppa

suppe

sour

sauer

zuur

sur

spare (vb)

sparen

spare

(be)spara

spare

speak

sprechen

spreken

(snake)

(tala)

(tale)

spindle

die Spindel

de spil

spindle

spindel

splinter (LG)

der Splitter

de splinter

(flis)

splittra

splint

spread (vb)

spreiten%

(ver)spreiden

spre

sprida

sprede

sprout (vb)

sprießen

ontspruiten

spire

spira

spire

spy (n) (Fr)

der Spion

de spion

spion

stamp (vb)

stempeln

stempelen

stemple

stämpla

stemple

standard (Fr)

der Standard

de standaard

standard

star

der Stern

de ster

stjerne

stjärna

stjerne

stare (vb)

starren

staren

stirre

stirra

stirre

steal

stehlen

stelen

stjele

stjäla

stjæle

steel

der Stahl

de stalen

stål

steer

steuern

sturen

styre

styra

styre

stepfather

der Stiefvater

de stiefvader

stefar

styvfar

stedfar

stone

der Stein

de steen

stein

sten

storm

der Sturm

de storm

storm

straw

das Stroh

het stro

strå

such

solche

zulk

slik

sådan

suck

saugen

zuigen

suge

suga

sutte

summer

der Sommer

de zomer

sommer

sommar

sommer

sun (IE)

die Sonne

de zon

sol

swamp

der Sumpf

(het moeras)

sump

(träsk)

sump

swear

schwören

zweren

sverge

svära

sværge

swing

schwingen

zwaaien

svinge

svänga

svinge

sword

das Schwert

het zwaard

sverd

svärd

s værd

tame

zahm

tam

temme

tam

tamme

thaw

tauen

dooien

tine

tö

tø

there

dort

daar

der

där

der

thief

der Dieb

de dief

tyv

tjuv

tyv

thing

das Ding

het ding

ting

think

denken

tenke

tänka

tænke

thirst

der Durst

de dorst

tørst

törst

tørst

thread

(der Faden)

de draad

tråd

threaten

drohen

(be) dreigen

true

(hota)

true

thumb

der Daumen

de duim

tommel

tumme

tommelfinger

tin

das Zinn

het tin

tinn

tenn

tin

toe

die Zehe

de teen

tå

token

das Zeichen

het teken

pollett

tecken

polet

tongue

die Zunge

de tong

tunge

tunga

tunge

tough

zäh

taai

tøff

tuff

(sej)

twig

der Zweig

de twijg

(kvist)

under

unter

onder

under

underground

der Untergrund

de ondergrond

undergrunn

(underjordisk)

undergrund

upright

aufrecht

oprecht

oppreist

upprätt

oprejst

uns

ons

oss

utter (vb)

äußern

uiten

uttale

uttala

ytre

walnut

die Walnuss

de walnoot

valnøtt

valnöt

valnød

wander

wandern

wandelen

vandre

vandra

vandre

warehouse

das Warenhaus

het warenhuis

(lager)

warm

varm

water

das Wasser

het water

vann

vatten

vand

waterfall

der Wasserfall

de waterfal

(foss)

vattenfall

vandfald

weapon

die Waffe

het wapen

våpen

vapen

vaben

wedge

(der Keil)

de wig

(kile)

(kil)

(kile)

week

die Woche

de week

uke

vecka

uge

whale

der Wal

de wal(vis)

hval

val

hval

what

was

wat

hva

vad

hvad

wheat

der Weizen

(de tarwe)

hvete

vete

hvede

where

waar

hvor

var

hvor

which

welche

welke

hvilken

vilka

hvilken

white

w eiß

wit

hvit

vit

hvid

whose

wessen

wiens

hvis

vars

hvis

wide

weit

wijd

(bred)

widow(er) (IE)

die Witwe

de weduwe

(enke)

(änka)

enke

win

gewinnen

winnen

vinne

vinna

vinde

winter

der Winter

de winter

vinter

wolf

der Wolf

de wolf

ulv

(varg)

ulv

wonder (n)

das Wunder

het wonder

under

(for) undran

vidunder

young (IE)

jung

jong

ung

Abbreviations

In the table above, the abbreviation “Fr” in parentheses means the English word is from French (though of Germanic origin, as 5-10% of modern French words are), while “Ital” means it hailed originally from Italian. “ON” means the Germanic word was borrowed in from Old Norse after the Viking invasions (rather than originating in Old English, i.e. the original Germanic dialect of the Anglo-Saxons). “IE” means the word has close cognates in not only the other Germanic languages, but in most other European languages as well, most of which are descended from the so-called “Proto-Indo-European” precursor language (e.g. words like “lip” and “name”).

“LG” means the word was imported into English from a fellow Low German language like Dutch, Frisian, or Middle Low German itself. Broadly speaking, the Low German languages are spoken by the lowland Germanic regions around the North Sea – as opposed to the mountainous High German region to the south – and are distinguished by their lack of a consistent phonetic variation which (for example) turned English “toe” and Duch “teen” into German “Zehe,” or English “dough” and Dutch “deeg” into German “teig.” Such regular variations represent two instances of the so-called Second Germanic Sound Shift, which I’ve spelled out in a bit more detail below after the chart. “Ger.” means the word is of High German origin and imported as a loanword into English, either directly from German (or Yiddish) or indirectly (e.g. via French). Lowercase notes in parentheses simply refer to a part of speech (e.g. “vb” = “verb”) or a clarification of meaning (e.g. for the word “lie”).

Pronunciation guide

Core pronunciation principles

Keep in mind that many German words in the table above which may appear unrecognizable at the outset, are actually close cousins of English words that differ only as a consequence of a consistent (as in one-to-one correspondence) shift in the consonant used between English and German. Examples: German “Zehe” (English “toe”) or German “zahm” (English “tame”). Also a brief pronunciation note: The vast majority of the vowels and consonants are pronounced in roughly similar fashion among the languages (though Danish does differ in quite a few ways). However, German and Dutch “w” are (usually) pronounced like English “v” while German and Dutch “v” are pronounced like English “f.” German “ß” is pronounced the same as English “ss.” The German “ö” or Scandinavian “ø” (the double dot above the vowel is termed an “umlaut” and is common in both German and the Scandinavian languages) is pronounced roughly like English “er”; the Scandinavian “å” is spoken roughly like a long English “o” (as in “pole”); and the “ä” in the other Germanic languages is more-or-less like a long English “a” (as in “gale”), especially in German, or the “ea” sound of “instead,” especially in the Scandinavian languages. Some other pronunciation rules (esp. for the Scandinavian languages) are provided after the table.

Additional pronunciation rules:

German pronunciation overall approximates that of English, with some exceptions (such as “w” pronounced like English “v”) mostly noted above. Additionally, German “j” sounds like English “y” while “z” sounds like English “ts,” and German “qu” resembles English “kv.” A terminal “g” in German (such as in “Honig” – honey) sounds like a soft guttural “h.” Scandinavian and Dutch pronunciation patterns also map reasonably well to their letter assignments in English, but with more striking discrepancies in several places, especially in Danish. Likewise in German, as in the other Germanic languages outside English, an initial “k” before an “n” is voiced, e.g. “Knie” (knee” ) is pronounced like English “kuhnee” (with a very short first syllable).

The “gj” in Norwegian is pronounced something like English “y.” Thus “gjest” (guest) is pronounced like “yest.” Likewise with the initial “g” in Swedish: “gäst” is pronounced like “yaest” (ae resembling roughly the dull “schwa” sound, i.e. a soft vowel between a and e as in the first syllable of English “meadow”). A terminal “g” in Norwegian is usually clipped off (or barely pronounced), as is a terminal “v” (e.g. Norwegian sølv “silver” sounds roughly like the first syllable of English “sullen”). The initial “h” in Norwegian is often silent, as in the “hj” consonant combination, while the “øy” pairing sounds roughly like English “ey” as in “hey.” Norwegian initial “sk” and “sj” are both pronounced roughly like English “sh.” Thus Norwegian “sjokk” translates and also sounds much like English “shock” (though with a longer “o” sound), while Norwegian “skyte” (to shoot) sounds like something between English “shoot-a” and “sheet-a” with a softer pronunciation on the first vowel. An initial “ki” is pronounced like “chi” (soft “ch”).

The Swedish sound system closely resembles that of English (albeit a bit more “sing-song-y,” with greater emphasis on each syllable). However, Swedish initial “s” combinations can vary considerably. For example, the “sj” in Swedish (as in Swedish “sjuk,” for “sick”) sounds like a very soft “f” followed by a “w.” In Swedish “skjorta” (“shirt”), the initial “skjo” sounds like a soft “hu” (with the “r” also fading out), so that the word sounds roughly like “huta” but with an especially soft initial “hu.” Swedish “tj” resembles English “sh.” The initial “h” before a “j” (as in hjärta “heart”) is silent. As In Norwegian, an initial “ki” is pronounced like “chi.” Finally, the initial “ch” in Swedish is aspirated, i.e. pronounced like a actively inhaled “h” in English (Swedish “chock” – which translates English “shock” – is pronounced somewhere between English “hook” and “hoak” but with a more actively pronounced “h” sound).

Danish pronunciation is another world entirely and takes some practice to get the hang of. It’s quite elliptical, with substantial clipping of (especially) final consonants (e.g. “at” is pronounced like a long-ish “a” and “have” is pronounced like “ha” with long “a”). The Danish internal “d” (not starting a word) is a unique sound, roughly like an “l” with the tongue rolled up, while the internal “p” generally sounds more like a “b.” (Danish “harpe” – the harp – sounds something like “hahbe,” roughly like “harbor” pronounced with a Cockney-accented glottal stop.) An “r” late in a Danish word is often clipped out or “glossed over.” For example Danish “høre” (to hear) sounds roughly like “hooa” said fairly quickly. An internal “t” sounds like an English “d,” while an initial “h” before consonants like a ‘j” (as in Swedish and Norwegian) is silent. The Danish “æ” is pronounced like a clipped long “a” that approaches a soft “e” resembling the vowel sound of “bread” in English (i.e. a bit different from the umlauted “a” in German for example, and closer to the umlauted “a” in Swedish). As in Norwegian, a terminal “g” is generally not pronounced. The Danish v is generally silent, and if used in the middle of words, it creates a glottal stop (like the “t” in the Cockney version of “water”). Most Danish vowels do approximate their English counterparts, though the ‘u” can often sound more like an English “o” e.g. in “skubbe” (shove) which sounds roughly like English “scopa.”

The Dutch “g” and “ch” consonants are pronounced like heavily guttural “h” sounds. Dutch “ij” resembles a long “I” at the start of a word (e.g. ijs “ice”), but is roughly like English “ey” outside the initial position. Thus “hij” (he) sounds something like English “hay” while “jij” (you) sounds like English “yay.” Dutch “ui” is roughly like a deep “au” or “ow.” (Dutch “tuin” – a garden – sounds like a London East End-accented “town.”) Dutch “oe” is like a slightly long English “u” and Dutch “oo” is like a long “o.” The terminal Dutch “d” at the end of a word sounds like a soft “t” in English, while “ei” sounds a bit like “ey” as well but closer to the long “I” sound. Dutch “eu” sounds like a deep “ow” (with the tongue pressed down onto the soft plate) that rounds to a long “o.” Thus “heuvel” (a hill) sounds roughly like “hau-ohfel.” Note that an immense number of Dutch words are pronounced exactly the same as their German counterparts, despite their different spellings, due to the way sounds are assigned to specific Dutch vowels, diphthongs (vowel pairs), and concluding consonants.

A note on word choices where multiple translations are available

In many cases above, especially for the Scandinavian languages, there is often more than one option to translate the English word. For the sake of laying out my bona fides in assembling a list like this, I’m a fluent German speaker, advanced conversational in Dutch, and conversational in the three Scandinavian languages (can hold a day-to-day conversation) with ability to read and fully comprehend written texts in all of them, thus I have a decent sense of the words in actual use. In the vast majority of cases, the obvious Germanic cognate is in sufficient conversational usage (even if not always the most common equivalent to the English term) that I’ve supplied it above. However, there are a few instances when I’ve had to make a judgment call, e.g. when the cognate is used much less commonly or with a different sense, and in which case I entered a non-cognate for translation.

For example, Swedes will often say “hitta” to denote English “find” (hitta actually cognate with English “hit” which was borrowed in from Old Norse), but “finna” is also in reasonably common use. In contrast, Swedish does have the word “flat” in its inventory but this term is used somewhat distinctly and with much less frequency than its English counterpart, so “platt”—which is of Latin derivation, and also found in German and Dutch (“plat” in the latter)—is the most appropriate translation. (The Latin source of “platt” is actually an Indo-European cognate of Germanic “flat,” but since I’m referring to specifically Germanic cognates in this table, I’ve enclosed “platt” in parentheses as a non-cognate.) Likewise, in translating “sea,” Swedish does have the cognate term “sjö” but it’s used with much less frequency than “hav” to express the English concept of a sea (as a large body of water), thus “hav” is the most appropriate translation in this case even though a direct cognate does exist in Swedish. (Likewise for “sø” vs. the similarly more common “hav” in Danish.) In contrast, the direct cognate “sjø” is far more common in Norwegian and is thus used as the translated term in the chart.

Asterisked notes from entries in the table

* English “shaggy” (from Anglo-Saxon/Old English sceacgede) is cognate with these Scandinavian terms and can be used to remember the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish equivalents.

** The Scandinavian words for “beer” are cognate with English “ale” (Anglo-Saxon/Old English “ealu”).

*** The Scandinavian languages have cognates both to the Low German term (English “bell” and Dutch “bel”) and the High German term (German Glocke), for example Norwegians will also say “klokke” and Swedes will use “klocka” more often than “bjell” and “bjällra,” though both forms are essentially in use. (Danish also has a Low German cognate, “bjælde,” but it’s seldom called upon compared to “klokke.”)

**** Scandinavian languages also have a cognate to the West Germanic “birthday/Geburtstag” words (variations on “bursdag”) though they’re far less common than the compounds built off the general North Germanic (Scandinavian) term for birth (variations on “fødselsdag” as above).

***** Danish “klinge” (for “blade”) is also cognate with German “Klinge” (and Dutch “kling”), which likewise translate English “blade” in some of its senses (especially that of sharp edge of a knife). As for some other words here, there are often multiple synonyms with fine shades of meaning that are beyond the scope of a table like this; but suffice it to say that German “Blatt” as well as Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish “blad” do indeed translate various senses of English “blade” (both the sharp edge and stalk of grass senses) and thus are rightly considered cognates with similar meaning. Furthermore, they also take on additional meanings not used in English (e.g. German “Blatt” and Dutch and Danish “blad” also basically translate English “leaf” in the singular sense).

# For “borrow” most of the Germanic languages simply use a cognate of English “loan” (including German -- “leihen” and “ausleihen”). German also has a direct cognate, “borgen,” in general speech, which is seldom used in the other West and North Germanic languages.

## To translate “good” both Swedish and Norwegian often use “bra” which, interestingly, is of Latin derivation (akin to bravo), but the Germanic equivalent of English “good” is also in common usage.

### English “ground” is translated as “jord” – cognate to “earth” – in both Swedish and Danish (as well as Norwegian) but also as the close cognate “grund” depending on the specific sense and context.

#### German “wachsen” (and its cognates in Norwegian and Swedish), which translates English “grow,” is itself cognate to English “wax” (as a verb), which also connotes “to grow” but is generally used in less common or more specialized senses (e.g. phrases like “wax and wane”). Additionally, Danish customarily translates the verb as “dyrke” but “gro” is also in reasonably common use.

##### English “hot” is usually translated by a cognate of “warm” in the Scandinavian languages (some variant of “varm”) but the etymological cognates of “hot” are also in reasonably common usage depending on the context.

$ The Germanic languages outside English tend to distinguish “know” in the sense of “know someone or be familiar with” (for which the cognates of “know” are used, such as German and Dutch “kennen”) and “know” in the context of “having specific or specialized knowledge” (as for school subjects). In the latter case, a cognate of English “wise” is generally used (such as German “wissen” or Dutch “wisselen”). Norwegian, like English, has for the most part dropped the alternate forms of “to know,” though it’s settled on the opposite cognate (“vite”) to do double duty. Note that this “two forms of know” pattern is also common in many other languages. For example in Spanish you’ll use a form of “conocer” for “to be familiar with” and “saber” for “have knowledge of” (akin to the French selective use of “connaitre” vs. “savoir”). Likewise in Chinese you’ll use “認識” (in Romanized pinyin: rènshí) for “being familiar with” or “knowing somebody,” and “知道” (pinyin: zhīdào) for “having knowledge of.” Interestingly, this is one of the gripes that many foreign-language learners have about English, since the distinctions between the senses of “know” often have significant implications for a sentence’s overall meaning, which aren’t apparent in English without some study or knowledge of context (and even then…).

$$ As with the forms of “know,” the Germanic languages outside English distinguish “live” in the sense of “state of being alive” vs. “residing somewhere.” The cognates of “live” generally refer to the former meaning (though there is some flexibility in this usage), while “reside” will be represented with “wohnen” in German (“wonen” in Dutch) and some variant of “bo” in the Scandinavian languages.

$$$ The kinship of English “shun” with its apparent Germanic cognates (German “scheuen,” Dutch “schuwen,” pan-Scandinavian “sky”) isn’t entirely clear, and “shun” may be a uniquely Anglo-Saxon term, but by some accounts it’s related to English “shy” and the very similar-appearing equivalents in the other Germanic tongues so I’ve included it here.

$$$$ English “shy” is also translated as “genert” in Danish (pronounced like “shenert”), which is actually a Latin-based import from French “se gener” which indeed means “to be shy” (also in German as “geniert” which means “embarrassed”). However the Germanic cognate “sky” is also in regular use in Danish. Norwegian “sjenert” (pronounced “shaynert”) is actually from the French loanword even though it ostensibly resembles the Germanic “shy” cognate group.

$$$$$ The Scandinavian cognates of English “smear” (such as Norwegian and Danish “smøre”) are used frequently in direct translations or compounds for which English tends to use Greco-Latin loanwords, for example “butter” (translated as “smør” in both Danish and Norwegian, i.e. “something you smear on bread”).

% German “spreiten” (the direct cognate of English “spread”) has a more specific connotation along the lines of “spread thoroughly or thickly” (e.g. a layer of sunscreen at the beach). “Spread” more broadly is usually translated as “verbreiten” or some variant of the root “breiten” (which is akin to English “broaden”).

%% The direct cognate in German for English “thread” is “der Draht,” but the German term means something more akin to “wire” rather than “thread.”

A quick note on Norwegian orthography: In case this issue comes up – I’ve used the Norwegian bokmål spellings for Norwegian vocabulary, though they’re identical in the vast, vast majority of cases to the other written standard (Nynorsk).

Explanation on English-German cognates varying by the Second Germanic Sound Shift

As I prefaced above in the guide to abbreviations, many German words that may appear quite foreign at first are actually close cognates to their English counterparts when you keep in mind a certain historic, regular shift in some consonants between English and German. That is, both words were originally the same in the common Germanic ancestor of English and German (“Common West Germanic”), and have diverged predictably, based on a consistent pattern that will allow you to quickly learn and remember the German equivalents to the English term. This is the so-called “ Second Germanic Sound Shift” as described by the Brothers Grimm (of Grimm Fairy Tales renown), which differentiates the High German West Germanic languages (German and Yiddish) from the Low German West Germanic tongues (English, Dutch, Frisian) and Scandinavian languages.

How this works, in essence: English and Dutch initial “d” corresponds to German “t” (English “door” = Dutch “deur” = German “Tür”), English and Dutch internal “t” corresponds to German internal “ss” (English “better” = Dutch “beter” = German “besser,” English “bit” = Dutch “beetje” = German “bisschen”), and English and Dutch initial “t” corresponds to German “z” (English “tame” = German “zahm”, English “toe” = German “Zehe,” English “tough” = German “zäh” ). The last of these may be the least obvious, but if you recall this relation, you’ll be able to pick up even more cognates in German and learn the language that much faster. In addition, a consonantal shift unique to English is initial “th” corresponding to initial “d” in both Dutch and German (e.g. English “thorn” = Dutch “doorn” = German “Dorn”),

A brief note about learning the definite articles in German and Dutch: Some guidelines to pick them up reliably and quickly

The presence of definite articles in other European languages, including German and Dutch, can often strike English-speakers as a tedious and needless hassle. After all, we can get by with a simple “the” for everything – varying only in its pronunciation before a consonant or vowel – and many Asian languages (including Chinese and Japanese) have dispensed with the pesky definite articles entirely. So what’s the deal with German’s “der’s” and “die’s” and Dutch’s “de’s” and “het’s”? They do, in fact, have a purpose and, once you get the hang of them, can be quite handy. In practice, of course, you can wing it (and be fully understood) if you miss the articles here and there, but to really sound fluent to German-speaking natives, you’ll want to choose the correct article for at least a solid majority of the nouns in a sentence. Luckily, as I’ll lay out below, the definite articles are in no way random, but generally adhere to set patterns based usually on the last few letters of the nouns to which they’re assigned, creating guidelines which you can easily learn and use to predict the right article.

Let’s start out with why these little noun-labels are even there. The definite articles in other European languages serve as markers which boost their syntactic and expressive flexibility. In plain (or somewhat plainer) English: The articles make it much easier to tweak the word order of sentences and clarify which pronoun has which antecedent – one of the banes of English, constantly bedeviled by misplaced modifiers and ambiguous noun-pronoun mappings. In practice, English – like Chinese – is what’s termed an “analytic language,” whch for practical purposes means that it conveys grammatical relationships primarily through word order.

While poetic couplets (or Yoda in Star Wars) might merrily transpose subjects and verbs and objects – “quoth the raven ‘nevermore’” – in practice English sentences must be constructed with a fairly consistent word order (subject then verb then object) to make grammatical sense. In contrast German, Dutch, and most other European languages have varying levels of “synthetic” structure to them. Specifically, while they (like English) are also mostly analytic – with a generally prescribed word order – they can also avail themselves of more variety in structure by virtue of inflections based on the definite articles. Since there’s greater variation in these articles and the ways they inflect under different cases (for example accusative – the direct object case – versus genitive, the possessive case), speakers of the language have more wiggle room to unambiguously express a desired meaning.

Now, appreciating this in itself doesn’t necessarily make learning the damn things any easier, but the good news is that the definite article assignments in German and Dutch do tend to follow roughly phonetic patterns. For example, practically every single German noun ending in “-ung” (generally corresponding to English “-ing” nouns) takes a “die” feminite article. Examples: “die Spaltung” (the split), “die Wohnung” (the apartment), “die Haltung” (the attitude), “die Stimmung” (the mood), “die Trennung” (the separation), “die Nahrung” (the food), “die Meldung” (the report), “die Tagung” (the conference). The same goes for nouns ending in “-ion,” almost all of which are French or Latin loanwords – “die Ovation,” “die Demonstration,” “die Station” – and for nouns ending in “-ur” – e.g. “die Reparatur” (the repair), “die Schnur” (the string). As a bonus, compound nouns in German always take the article that’s used for the last word within the compound. Thus “Unterhaltung” (entertainment) takes the same “die” feminine article as “Haltung” alone does, likewise for “die Bestimmung” (the meaning or determination) and “die Anmeldung” (the registration).

Words ending in “-ei” (again usually French loanwords) are also, as a rule, feminine nouns: “die Bäckerei” (the bakery), “die Konditorei” (a cake shop). Likewise, the vast majority of German nouns that end in “e” take a “die” feminine definite article, e.g. “die Katze” (the cat), “die Hitze” (the heat), “die Hilfe” (the help), “die Mitte” (the middle), “die Dame” (the lady), “die Rolle” (the roll or role), “die Pflanze” (the plant), “die Tasche” (the bag), “die Sache” (the thing), “die Lippe” (the lip), “die Stelle” (the spot), “die Karte” (the card), “die Brille” (the glasses), “die Größe” (the size), “die Stimme” (the voice), “die Liste” (the list). There are exceptions – “das Auge” (the eye), ”der Name” (the name), “der Ochse” (the ox), “der Gnade” (the mercy) – but these are few and far between. For the most part, if you see a noun ending in “-e,” you’ll know right off the bat that it’s a feminine noun taking a “die” article. Note that this is similar to the way the vast majority of Spanish nouns ending in “-a” take a feminine “la” definite article, with very rare exceptions like el agua “the water,” el día “the day,” el mapa “the map”. (Spanish is even easier since there are only two definite articles, masculine and feminine, with fewer and simpler rules and most nouns ending in masculine “-o” or “-a.”)

The other articles also have their own reliable patterns. For example, most German nouns ending in “-er” (and most with a terminal “-r” in general, except for “-ur” nouns) are masculine nouns taking the “der” definite article: “der Doktor” (the doctor). “der Finger,” “der Taucher” (the diver), “der Marmor” (the marble), “der Räuber” (the robber), “der Körper” (the body), “der Gletscher” (the glacier), “der Krater” (the crater), “der Pfeffer” (the pepper), “der Gouverneur” (governor), “der Bürgermeister” (the mayor). “der Speer” (the spear), “der Hunger,” “der Meister” (the champion), “der Hubschrauber” (the helicopter), “der Gläubiger” (the creditor), “der Gewinner” (the winner), “der Gründer” (the founder), “der Besitzer” (the owner), “der Tiger,” “der Herr” (the lord), “der Kämpfer” (the fighter), “der Schlagzeuger” (the drummer), “der Köder” (the bait), “der Ordner” (the folder), “der Gegner” (the opponent), “der Vertreter” (the representative). “der Meter,” “der Donner” (the thunder), “der Offizier” (the officer). Exceptions: “das Wasser” (the water), “die Feder”(the feather), “das Ohr”(the ear), “das Filter,” “die Leiter” (the ladder), “das Lager”(the warehouse), “das Leder” (the leather), “die Leber” (the liver), “die Pfeiler” (the pillar), “das Meer” (the sea), “die Kupfer” (the copper), “das Theater,” “das Pflaster” (the plaster). “die Tochter” (the daughter), “das Papier” (the paper).

German nouns ending in “-en,” like “-er,” are also principally the domain of the “der” masculine article: “der Garten” (the garden), “der Schatten” (the shadow), “der Kasten” (the box),“der Schaden” (the damage), “der Boden” (the floor), “der Bogen” (the bow), “der Karren” (the cart), “der Wagen” (the car or wagon), “der Weizen” (the wheat), “der Regen” (the rain). To clarify, these are “-en” nouns that function only as nouns (that is, they’re not just infinitive “dictionary” forms of verbs acting as nouns, which take a “das” article – see below). Likewise, almost all words ending in “-us” (generally imports from Latin) or “-uss” (with the “ss” sometimes represented with the “ß” character) take a “der” masculine article: “der Kasus” (the case), “der Globus” (the globe), “der Fuß” (the foot), “der Ausschuss” (the committee), “der Einfluss” (the influence), “der Ausguss” (the spout or drain), “der Usus” (the use). (There are a few exceptions, like die Nuss “the nut,” but these are rare.) Nouns ending in “-ig” are also the province of the “der” article: “der König” (the king), “der Honig” (the honey). “der Pfennig” (the penny or cent).

The neuter article, “das,” is used with all gerund nouns – that is, when the infinitive (dictionary) form of a verb is used as a noun: “das Lernen” (the learning), “das Denken” (the thinking), “das Laufen” (the running), “das Schlafen” (the sleeping), “das Lesen” (the reading). Otherwise, the neuter definite article is also applied to more technical terms, especially those imported from Latin, as well as a number of native terms that end in consonant clusters. For instance, German nouns ending in “o” (almost all of Latin origin) generally take a “das” neuter article: “das Auto” (the car), “das Foto,” “das Radio,” “das Video.”

Almost all nouns terminating in a double “t” take a “das” article: “das Bett” (the bed), “das Bukett” (the bucket), “das Fett” (the fat), “das Brett” (the board), “das Blatt” (the leaf). Likewise, virtually every noun ending in “-um” – both native terms and loanwords – is paired with “das”: “das Ministerium” (the ministry), “das Imperium” (the empire), “das Eigentum” (the property), “das Königtum” (the kingdom), “das Vakuum” (the vacuum), “das Studium” (the studies), “das Stipendium” (the scholarship).

While some noun and article pairs simply have to be memorized, there are many other rules and guidelines to help reliably associate the correct article with a given noun based on the noun’s spelling, phonetics, or even topical focus. In any case you’ll generally have contextual clues in conversational speech or printed articles to help you quickly learn how to match articles with the terms they modify. The bottom line is that you should never allow fear of the articles to discourage you from learning a language like German or French; there are almost always reliable tricks to help cut down on your workload and learn them quickly.

For questions or follow-ups to this material, you can write to me at (remove the hyphens and append standard suffix) m-e-i-g-u-o-2-a (at) yahoo dot com (alternate address I check about once a week). Please feel free to quote from, print, and cite this essay as, “Table of Germanic Vocabulary Cognates Across English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish,” by J. Wes Ulm, originally published on Harvard University personal website, URL: https://wesulm.angelfire.com/languages/common_germanic_vocabtable.htm © 2016.

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