Historically, German and English have shared a number of similar or even identically spelled words such as:
der Student, das Haus, die Maus, die Medizin
This is due to the fact that both languages stem from a common proto-Germanic language as well as the fact that they have imported words from the same languages such as French. Over time, these words have come to be part of each language without people giving much thought to it. However, in recent history a large number of English words have been adopted by German speakers, especially within the youth culture.
Many of these words are business and technology-related, but some of them are common words for referring to people, foods or even items around the house. This mixing has become so common it even has its own name: Denglish! While many older Germans lament the encroachment of English on their language, these words are a blessing for English speakers learning German!
For those loanwords that are nouns, learning the gender can be especially tricky as they do not fall into typical categories of gender assignment. Generally, however if the word is a replacement for a German word it will retain the same gender. For example, it is das Telefon, therefore it follows that it is das Smart Phone. Another hint is that words ending in -ing are always neuter, as are infinitives used as nouns in German. Compare: das Treffen = das Meeting
Here is a list of some common English words in the modern German language:
Nouns:
der Airbag
das Baby
das Bowling
der Bodybuilder
der Bestseller
das Catering
die Couch
das iPhone
der Loser
das Meeting
das Tshirt
Verbs:
babysitten
bloggen
downloaden
einchecken (to check in)
googlen
snowboarden
For an extensive list please check out this website.
What is your favourite English word that has migrated into modern German?
