* Spanish: They share many cognates (words with similar origins), like "casa" (Spanish) and "maison" (French) for "house." The grammar is also very similar.
* Italian: Like Spanish, Italian and French share many cognates and grammatical similarities. For example, the word "amore" in Italian means "love," very close to the French "amour."
* Portuguese: Similar to Spanish and Italian, Portuguese shares many cognates and grammatical similarities with French.
* Romanian: While it has its own distinct character, Romanian also shares a lot with the other Romance languages, making it somewhat easier for French speakers to pick up.
Beyond Romance:
* English: French has significantly influenced English vocabulary, particularly in areas like law, government, food, and art. This means many English words have French origins, though they may be spelled differently.
* German: While less obvious than Romance languages, there are some cognates between French and German due to their shared Germanic ancestor.
* Latin: As the source language, French has many direct borrowings from Latin, making it relatively easy for Latin learners to pick up some French vocabulary.
Specific Similarities:
* Word order: French and other Romance languages tend to be Subject-Verb-Object languages, similar to English.
* Gendered nouns: French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian all have grammatical genders for nouns, meaning they are classified as masculine or feminine.
* Verb conjugation: These languages all have complex verb conjugations, though the specific patterns may differ.
Overall, French's biggest similarities are with the other Romance languages. However, its influences extend beyond this family, showing how language evolution connects different languages in interesting ways.