To which language family does English belong?

English belongs to the Indo-European language family, which is one of the largest and most widely distributed language families in the world. This family includes several major branches such as Germanic, Romance, Slavic, and Indo-Iranian. English specifically is classified under the Germanic branch, which also includes languages such as German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages.

The Indo-European language family is significant because it encompasses the majority of languages spoken in Europe and many in parts of Asia. Understanding that English is part of this family helps contextualize its similarities and historical connections to other languages, including shared vocabulary and grammatical structures.

The other language families mentioned do not apply to English: the Romance family includes languages derived from Latin, Amerindian pertains to languages of indigenous peoples in the Americas, and Papuan refers to languages spoken in Papua New Guinea and surrounding areas. None of these are relevant to the classification of English.