German is extraordinarily precise. Because it uses compound words much more than English does, the words are often quite long but they fully describe what they mean, such as the German word for "truck". "Lastkraftwagen", or "load power vehicle", often abbreviated to "LKW" fully describes what a truck is, and so does the word to "Tank". It is "Panzerkraftwagen", (abbreviated to "Pzkw") so similar to "truck" but the individual elements mean "armour power vehicle".
In English however, the word "truck" and "tank" have to be individually learned. You can't figure either out by breaking down their elements.English is very precise too, but each word must be learned by rote.
Furthermore a lot of English words have different meanings depending on the context, and they can mean opposite things even.
Take the common English word "fast" for instance. It often means "to move quickly", but if you "hold fast" it means to grip something firmly, not moving at all. You can also be "fast friends" meaning firm or solid friends, implying immovability. German isn't so flexible a language.
Some English words are redundant. Can someone please explain the difference between the opposite sounding "flammable" and "inflammable"? I can't think of a pair of German words like them.
Each language has its pros and cons. Basic English is probably easier to learn because the grammar is, but get beyond that and I pity the poor person trying to fathom how to differentiate between"through", "thorough" and "thought" or the correct way to pronounce "Beauchamp" or "St John"
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