Japanese vs Korean
Is Japanese similar to Korean? How close are they?
Japanese and Korean have strikingly similar grammar (subject-object-verb, particles, honorific verb forms) and both have a large Chinese-derived vocabulary, but no proven genetic relationship. Korean writes in the Hangul alphabet; Japanese mixes kanji and kana.
The short answer
Grammatically, surprisingly close: both put the verb last, mark roles with particles and build politeness into verb endings. Their sounds and native vocabulary differ, and whether they are related at all is disputed. A shared stock of Chinese-derived words creates many near-cognates.
The verdict
Grammar maps almost one to one: は/が vs 은/는 and 이/가, を vs 을/를. Sino-xenic vocabulary overlaps (図書館 toshokan, 도서관 doseogwan). Pronunciation differs: Korean has more vowels and final consonants.
Closeness score
9 / 30
Mutually intelligible?
no
Shared vocabulary
Roughly 60% of Korean dictionary vocabulary and about half of Japanese is Chinese-derived; many such words correspond
Which first?
Either order works; grammar transfers almost 1:1.
Kungfucius says: Grammatical twins raised by different scripts.
Side by side
toshokan도서관 (圖書館)
doseogwanSino-Japanese and Sino-Korean readings of the same characters; Japanese writes the shinjitai 図.
junbi준비 (準備)
junbiOne of the cognates where Japanese and Korean readings coincide exactly.
wa은/는
eun/neunBoth languages mark the topic with a particle after the noun; Korean picks 은 after a consonant and 는 after a vowel.
yakusoku약속 (約束)
yaksokA clear cognate pair: same characters, closely related readings.