Let's see: 1) The feminine and the masculine genders have combined in Dutch (outside of Flanders anyway), giving Dutch two genders and German three. 2) The genitive and the dative don't exist anymore in Dutch. 3) The Dutch declension system is extremely simplified. Either ends in "-e" or has no ending. 4) Many "s" sounds in German have become "t" in Dutch. E.g (German - Dutch - English): besser - beter - better Wasser - water - water lassen - laten - let es - het - it hassen - haten - hate 5) Many "p" or "b" sounds in German have become "f" or "v" in Dutch. E.g (German - Dutch - English): Apfel - appel - apple schreiben - schrijven - write (this is a rare case where English preserves the original Germanic word while German and Dutch borrow from a Romance language - "reißen" (to scratch) is related to the word "write") bleiben - blijven - stay leben - leven - live hoffen - hopen - hope rufen - roepen - call 6) Many "ch" sounds in German have become "k" in Dutch. E.g. machen - maken - make ich - ik - I reichen - rieken/ruiken - smell (the verb "to reek" (to smell badly) is related to the German and Dutch words) rauchen - roken - smoke 7) The pronunciation of "g" is different. You'll find that many of the above apply to Low German dialects as well when compared to High German, as well as Old English.

There is lots of differences however they have a common origin as they are both from germanic origin. Therefore it is very easy for most Dutch people to learn German. I think the biggest difference in grammar is in German you have set grammar cases which you have a lot less in Dutch. Also in german words can be ´male´female´and gender neutral : respectibly: der, die, das In dutch we have: de, het, een In Dutch this also does/used to exist however almost none of the native speakers actually knows if a word is so called male or female we just use the one which 'sounds' right to us which i believe you can onlky learn by practising the language a lot. To get back at your question in a more general way by non native Dutch English or German speaking friends I have been told it looks /sounds like a bit of a combination of german and English. However the native Dutch of course don't see it like that.

Very good comment Mark! Alstüblijft comment more about, very interesting! Verleg je grenzen! Dank u wel!

German pronunciation is much more consistent, you can pronounce most new German words if you know their writing, but that doesn't work as well in Dutch (or English).