Frisian is the closest Germanic language to English. However, it is closer to Dutch than it is to English. Nevertheless, many Frisian words are quite similar to English. Here is a list of ten words:
cheese tsiis kaas
church tsjerke kerk
day dei dag
ear ear oor
green grien groen
key kaai sleutel
rain rein regen
red read rood
sheep skiep schaap
year jier jaar
The Frisian word for key is much closer to English than it is to Dutch. With the other tsjerke (church), the first sound is a voiceless alveopalatal affricate in both English and Frisian. In Dutch, however, the first sound is a voiceless velar plosive.
The word for ear is identical in both English and Frisian. The word dei (day) has a diphthong in Frisian and in English. In Dutch, however, dag (day) has a monophthong.
Though Frisian is undoubtedly closer to Dutch than to English, many Frisian words are very similar to English. A number of Frisian words are more similar to English than they are to Dutch. Nevertheless, English and Frisian are not mutually intelligible.
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