A friend that lives in Germany once confided that German was so maddening because, as in Latin, one never knows what's happening in a sentance until the last word as the verb comes at or near, the end.
I studied both Latin and German in high school and was married to a German.
In retrospect, my time would have been better spent studying Spanish

Answer

German is not a Latin based language. German is a West Germanic language
German is not a Latin based language because it is not a romance language. A Romance language is a language that is derived directly from Latin. They inlude Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. German does, however, have some words from Latin because the Germanic tribes interacted with the Latin speaking peoples when they overthrew Rome.
However, the great majority of Latin words in German were adopted from the time of the Renaissance onwards.
English is also a Germanic language. Many similarities can be seen between German and English, espcially with cognates. Sometimes, words only differ with a couple of letters.
Haus...House
Maus...Mouse
Hund...Dog (Hound)
There is a school of thought that says, by replacing German letter combinations with English letter combinations, you often come up with German words. See the examples above ("u" and "au" for the English "ou"). Although, this isn't always true, very often it works.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_German_a_Latin_based_language

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Chas H English is a more precise language than German and translating from German to English, other than colloquialisms, can be quite accurate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chas H English is comprised of many more words than German for starters, so the speaker has a broader choice of words and can be more precise. German tech jargon relies on word stack upon words while in English we have a descrete word. English is the defacto language of science.

I am afraid I have to disappoint you. English is a particularly simple language, grammatically speaking, wherein lies the key to precision within a language.
The size of vocabulary does not define how explicit a language can be.

I am referring to broadly and commonly understood and communicated language, not technically or scientifically specific language.

Let me give you simple example:
The overall precision of a motor vehicle is not achieved by the number of parts involved during its assembly or manufacturing in general.

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It turns out the address was actually in regads to a government subsidized program called "Multi Kulti", started in the early 90s, whereby the integration and assimilation of foreign nationals was promoted, sponsored and supported with government funds. Apparently it didn't accomplish the desired effects.

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Don't be afraid. English grammar and vocabulary are both more precise than German. I agree English grammar is more simple than German, but complicated does not equal exact.
German language wastes way to many words and energy on gender agreement and irregular plurals, not to mention having only 3 major verb tenses compared to 6 in English, or the lack of a genative case.
Your attempt to compare a language to a motor vehicle is laughable.

I am glad you got a laugh out of my analogy. I though it was simple enough to be understood that the quantity of ingredients does not define precision for somebody who does not suffeciently read, write, speak or understand a language you take make quite a tall statement. In other words: You are not in a position to judge the descriptiveness and precision of the German language. You speak from plain theory.

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If I am not in a position to make a judgement neither are you.
But what do you know of my understanding of the German language? From what I can gather from your posts you know very little about the language yourself and have resorted to gross generalizations in a failed effort to support your opinion.

What's your point? Would you like to continue the dispute in German?

My English is fluent enough to write, read, speak, understand and post, so is my German.

Gross generalizations? Yes, because it has little to do with the topic, while you break an argument over the fact that significant nuances, if not entire meanings are lost or altered in translations.

Ps, my analogy, although laughable for you was much less of an attempt to compare languages as it was a perfectly fitting comparison to your statement that English is a more precise language because of the multitude of its vocabulary.
Fact is, the vast majority of English speaking population has no glue of the extent and is practically using only a frightingly diminishing fraction of said vocabulary.

What do I know about your knowledge of German? See post #31. You were married to a German? I thought YOU are the man Ahhh, you mean a German woman ...!?
Now I can see how precise you articulate yourself, EVEN though you express yourself in English. Very precise!!

Place your next post in German, than we'll see.

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Well I guess I stepped on your tender ethnic toes.
My German is well out of practice, and was not that good to start. But I will stick to my original post that English is a more precise language.
Since you can only offer personal insults to support your opinion your case is closed by me.

Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken,
Drei Ecken hat mein Hut!

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

No problem that's fine. You stick with yours, I stick with mine. Though, I don't think I threw personal insults at you, by any stretch of imagination.

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... und hätt er nicht drei Ecken,
so wär er nicht mein Hut.

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I think there are 6 or 7 major branches of languages. German, as I remeber comes from the germanic branch. Its source comes from northern India. The Latin branch includes those already listed. English is actually a hybrid language of german and french (latin). When the Normans, from France, invaded England the languages mixed together to an extent. Also, the Normans were decendents of the Vikings or North men (Norsemen). I think the Vikings language was also in the germanic tree.
http://www.danshort.com/ie/
http://www.krysstal.com/english.html
Tom

How do you figure? Most non (native) english speakers I'm acquainted with view english as a vexing language on account of the lack of grammatical consistency.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Ah. Thanks for the explanation. Hardly a surprizing outcome though in my opinion.

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S