How close are English and Sanskritam? Let’s find out. Imagine all the basic English vocabulary you can think of, that would have been in vogue, a few thousand years ago. Juxtapose those words with their Sanskrit equivalents. You will see that they are mostly the same word if you account for slight pronunciation differences over the millennia. The below table of 70+ common words is just a small representative list.
| English (or Latin root) | Sanskrit (stem) |
| Mother | Maathr |
| Father (also Peter) | Pithr |
| Brother | Bhraathr |
| Daughter | Duhita |
| Naval | Naav |
| Pod (leg) as in octapod or pedal | paada |
| Mind/Mental | Mann |
| Nose | Nas |
| Vocal | Vaak |
| Heart | Hrud |
| Hand | Hasta |
| Dental | Danta |
| Duo (two) | Dwi |
| Tri (three) | Thri |
| Quad /Quattro /(four) | Chatur |
| Penta (five) as in pentagon | Pancha |
| Six /hecta | Shat |
| Septa (seven) | Sapta |
| Octa (eight) | Ashta |
| Nona (nine) | Nava |
| Deci (ten) | Dasa |
| Cent (hundred) | Sata |
| Add(ition) | Adhi(ka) |
| Vodka (Russian “water”) | Udaka (water) |
| Sweet | Swaad (tasty) |
| Grass | Garika/Grasa |
| Man | Manav/Manush |
| She | Stree |
| Me | Mam |
| Name | Naam |
| Gene | Jana |
| Serpent | sarpa |
| Cow | Gau |
| Mouse | Mush(ika) |
| Divine | Divya/Deva |
| No | Na |
| Dom (icile) | Dham |
| Loc(ation) | Loka (place) |
| Door | Dwaar |
| Medium | Madhyam |
| Cal(endar) | Kaal |
| Create (to do) | Kri(ya)- |
| Mix | Misra |
| Mega | Maha |
| Mal(formed)- Stem for Bad | Mala (excreta) |
| Nocturnal | Nakta |
| Mortis (death) | Mrta |
| Path | Patha |
| Royal | Rajya/Raaya |
| Similar | Sama |
| Sugar | Sarkara |
| That | Tat |
| Vehicle/ Wagon | Vaahana |
| Vomit | Vamana |
| Vest | Vastra/ Veshti |
| Juvenile | Youvana |
| Orange (naranj in Spanish) | Naranj |
| Pepper | Pippali |
| Sandal | Chandana |
| New | Nava |
| Cough | Kafa (mucus) |
| Prefix ‘a’ indicating not | Prefix ‘a’ |
| Prefix ‘an’ or ‘un’ | Prefix ‘un’ |
| Myth | Mithya |
| Ignite | Agni |
| Nerve | Nara |
| Per (as in Per cent) | Prati |
| Love | Lub(dha)- Desire |
| Committee | Samiti |
| Sweat | Swed |
| Condemn | Khandan |
The Merriam Webster’s third unabridged dictionary lists over 2000 English words that have Sanskrit roots, mostly the oldest English words. Can so much similarity just be a pure coincidence? Logically does not make sense unless they were the same language at some point in the past. I will leave it to your judgment. What do you think?
tvprasad 
Yeah, I heard a few samples and their resemblance but this list is fairly long and the resemblance is remarkable. “Committee” and “Samiti” differ so much in spelling but the phonetic similarity is very close.
Were the two languages the same long long time ago? With time, it seems what is the same mutates and splits beyond recognition. Is it always that way? Does the reverse also happen? Considering the speed and spread of communications, local distinctions should dissolve and tend to something common. I see this happening with the way English is spoken in India. Though there is diversity the commonalty also is noticeable.
Keep your observations and research keen.
Putcha V. Narasimham