> Likewise, the combination "ei" will always be pronounced "eye." That's not true for German, e.g. in some loanwords: "Atheist" and "Koffein" (= caffeine) use

> Likewise, the combination "ei" will always be pronounced "eye." That's not true for German, e.g. in some loanwords: "Atheist" and "Koffein" (= caffeine) use "eh-i" > I've never understood the need for noun genders Sometimes they show different meanings of a word: German: Die Leiter = the ladder Der Leiter = the director French: la tour = the tour le tour = the tower