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.