This paper focuses on how the English tongue was derived from Germanic by examining the similarities between the
structure
and vocabulary of Old and Middle English and German. It looks at how Anglo-Saxon was an inflected language with a
structure that is still retained by modern German speakers, coupled with word gender, past participle
formation and the process of compounding. It explores through a literature review of works such as "Beowulf" and the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Seafarer" how the English that we speak today essentially evolved under the influence of many languages and how the Germanic tongue was perhaps one of the most instrumental in its formation.