| Language |
Common Words |
Characteristics |
| English |
the |
of |
a(n) |
and |
|
Spanish
(español) |
el*,la(s),lo(s) |
de(l) |
un,uno,una |
y,e |
- Characteristic letters: ñ*
- Typical words: en [in], por [for], otro(-a) [other], a [to, for, at]
- -ción
- "¿"
prepended to inquisitive statements*
|
French
(français) |
le(s),la,l'*(also see Italian) |
de,d',du,des |
un(e) |
et* (also see Latin) |
- Characteristic letters: ç, é, è, ê
- Typical words: en [at,in], C'est* [This is]
- -aire, -oir, -aux, -eau
|
German
(Deutsch) |
der,den,des,das,die,dem |
von (also for "from") |
ein(e) |
und* |
- Characteristic letters: ü, ö, ä, ß
- Typical words: -en, -ung, (-)sch(-), -cht, -tz(-), (-)eu(-)
- Uppercase for initial letter of noun (so you'll see many)*
|
Portuguese
(português) |
o* |
de,da |
|
e |
- Characteristic letters: é, ó, ã*, á, ô, ç
- Typical words: é [be], a [to,for,with...]
- -ção
|
Italian
(italiano) |
il,i*,la,le,lo,l' |
de,di,dei,del |
un,uno,una |
e |
- Characteristic letters: è
- Typical words: è [be]
- Words end with vowel* (also see Swahili and some words in Japanese)
|
Norwegian
(norsk) |
|
til |
en,ei,et |
og* |
- Characteristic letters: Ø, å, æ
- Typical words: mot [toward], fra [from], eller [or]
|
Swedish
(svensk) |
de(n),det,dem,dom,dens,deras |
|
en |
och* |
- Characteristic letters: å, ä*, ö* (Note: Finnish has many ä but
has no ö)
- Typical words: om [if,whether,of], i [at]
- (-) jvowel, e.g. (-)sjö(-), (-)hja(-), (-)tjär(-)
|
Dutch
(Nederlands)
Flemish
(Vlaams) |
de,het* |
van |
een |
en |
- Characteristic letters: ç, é
- Typical words: dat [this]
- -en, -ij(-), words containing consecutive vowels are common (e.g. aan [to])*
|
Danish
(dansk) |
de(n),det,des,desto |
|
en,et,én,ét |
og* |
- Characteristic letters: æ, ø, å
- Typical words: den [he,she,it], de [they], til [to,for,at,with,into,until]
|
Polish
(polski) |
|
|
|
i |
- Characteristic letters: ł*, ę*, ą*, ć, ś, ź ń, ó; no q, v, x
- Typical words: w [in,into,at]*, z [ ]
- (-)szcz(-), prz-, (-)brn(-), (-)sr(-), (-)drz(-)
|
Hungarian
(Magyar) |
a |
|
|
és,meg |
- Characteristic letters: ö, ó, á, é, ő*, ű*
- (-)sz(-), (-)èk(-), (-)cs(-)
|
Vietnamese
(tiẽng Vìệt) |
|
|
|
va |
- Characteristic letters: Ð, đ, ê, ô, ỏ*, ủ*
- Complicated diacritics above vowels, e.g. ắ, ổ, ữ*
|
Turkish
(Türkçe) |
|
|
bir |
ve* |
- Characteristic letters: ı, ç, ö, ş, ü, ğ, İ*; no q, w, x
|
| Latin |
|
|
|
et |
|
Swahili
(Kiswahili) |
|
|
|
na |
- No letters of c, q, x; no symbols above or below letters
- vowel as word end* (also see Italian and Japanese)
|
, Routledge; 3rd ed., 2002.