Is English the least "Germanic" language within th

Old English- Ic sello thee thaet hors thaet minne waegn draegth.
German- Ich verkaufe dir das ross das meinen wagen zieht.

<<>>In some ways though, English grammar is more like French grammar than German grammar (e.g. word order, lack of inflected cases etc.). <<

This is true, but it's not due to French influence.

English grammar (syntax) is Scandinavian and is the result of the two people groups living side by side during the Middle English period.>>

True, it is not because of French influence. I think the French influence on English grammar is minimal. Any similarities are mainly because of the trend for languages to lose inflections over time and become more analytic. This is not unique to English. Afrikaans and the Scandinavian languages barring Icelandic are also very analytical in their structures having shed most of their inflections.

<<"I think the French influence on English grammar is minimal. Any similarities are mainly because of the trend for languages to lose inflections over time and become more analytic." --- Redjack

I agree. French influences on English seem to be mainly lexical, maybe phonetic, in some forms of British English. A similar situation exists in Romanian where the Slavic influences are mainly lexical in nature but not morphosyntactical. >> ---- Brennus

Yes. Regarding French phonetic influence, William Barnes reckoned that the toffee nosed R.P. British accent was actually a Norman accent, that of invaders who could not speak English properly and then, ironically, passed on their accent to succeeding generations as a status symbol, the sign of their superiority and prestige over the English peasantry. But yes, French influence has been mainly lexical, in contrast to Old Norse influence which did affect English grammar greatly, leading to its simplification.