English has gone through many transformations to become the language we know today. One of the most significant times of change occurred after 1066 when the French ruled Britain. The upper class spoke French while the lower class spoke English. The two languages inevitably mixed.
As with all such language mixtures, there was a high or prestige language and a low or common language, and you can guess which was which. The peasants picked up plenty of French (English words are now 60% of French origin) vocabulary (as happens with prestige languages) but kept their own grammar (as happens with common languages). The first generation of any such language mix is called a pidgin, and it becomes a creole once a generation learns it as their native language.
Look at this list of words and guess which is Latin (French) and which is Germanic (English) and why:
A. B.
Pig Pork
Cow Beef
Chicken Poultry
Have you figured it out yet? Column A, the Germanic word list, refers to animals—that the common people dealt with—while column B, the Latin list, refers to food.
So if English seems confused, you can blame it on the mixture of such different languages. But here’s a little information you can actually use:
Germanic words tend to be shorter and harder. Use them to build tension or a casual tone. Latin words tend to be longer and softer. Use them for formal and relaxed tones.