Both languages derive from the indo-european family of languages , they are all latin tongues , so yes there are many words very similar ,having at least few common letters e.g Wasser=Water , Braun=Brown , Hand= hand , Konversation=conversation ,,,, etc , while many other words differ totally ,!

Sure, for example "Kindergarten", or the expression "uber" like in "ubergeek" (german "über" = "over"). "Verboten" is a german word, too, meaning simply "forbidden".