So I know English derives from the Germanic family. But why are some words essentially the same in English and German, while others are vastly different? What happened during the translation that made this so? Also, why do we say Germany when they refer to it as Deutschland?
Thanks for any help!
The short answer is that English has been influenced by French much more than its linguistic brothers such as German, Dutch and Frisian have.
You may have heard about the famous battle of Hastings in 1066, where the Norman-French duke William won his great victory over Harold II. Typical European marriage politics gave William a claim to the English throne and he made good on it.
Though Norman by descent, by mid 11th century these Normans were definitely speaking an 11th century equivalent of French. This language accompanied them to England and it became the language of the nobility (in a way that many Roman nobles liked to speak Greek).
The specific dynasty of William reigned for a hundred years or so, but the linguistic influences did not go away. Especially considering the English crown had large possessions in mainland France up till the end of the Hundred Years War (1453) and often tried to stake claim on the French throne.
So you have at least nearly 400 years of very specific linguistic ... 'interbreeding', if you will, between the old Anglo-Saxon and the contemporary 'French' (Gallo-Roman) languages.