As many students of Spanish know, the two main regions where the language is found are the countries of Latin America, with the exception of Brazil and French Guyana; Spain and a considerable part of the U.S. In total there are approximately 500 million native speakers, making it the language with the second largest number of native speakers in the world after Mandarin Chinese.
We all know that each of the countries where Spanish is spoken has its own characteristics and charm. But, in this post we are going to focus on the most noticeable and general differences that exist between the Spanish spoken in Spain and the one spoken in Latin America.
We believe that no accent or way of speaking is better than the other but we recognize that there are important elements that differentiate them. In a previous post we talked about some aspects to take into account when we don’t know which accent to learn.
So, if you are interested in learning Spanish and you don’t know which of the many variants of the language might be the best for you we recommend you our previous article. For now, let’s see some differences inside the Spanish language.
1. Voseo.
The term voseo refers to the use of the personal pronoun vos instead of the personal pronoun for the second person singular tú. This phenomenon occurs in countries such as Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as in some regions of Spain. In the rest of the Latin American countries this pronoun is not used. But don’t worry, if you ask ¿Cómo estás vos? or ¿Cómo estás tú? everyone will be able to understand you without any problem.
2. Vosotros vs. ustedes.
Similar to the use of voseo, people in different regions of the Spanish peninsula and the Balearic Islands use the pronoun for the second person plural vosotros with all its conjugations (yes, you would have to learn more endings), but only with friends and people very close to them as it is an informal version of the pronoun ustedes.
The pronoun vosotros is not used in any Latin American country nor in the Canary Islands which only use the pronoun ustedes in the formal context. However, in many Latin countries like Venezuela they use it in the informal context. So, if you use ustedes instead of vosotros in Spain people will only think that you are very polite and courteous.
3. The yeísmo and the ceceo.
One of the most notable differences between the different Spanish accents is in the pronunciation of some consonants. On the one hand, “sheísmo” is the pronunciation of the consonants “Y” and “LL” with a strong “sh” sound very common in Argentina and Uruguay. In the rest of the countries, these consonants are pronounced as “Y” indistinctly.
Also, a very important difference between the Spanish spoken in Spain and in Latin America is the “Ceceo” which consists in the pronunciation of the consonants “S”, “C” and “Z” in front of the vowels “E” and “I” and the “S” and “Z” with the rest of the vowels. In Latin America, the three consonants in front of these vowels have the “S” sound regardless of the word or its meaning when the spelling changes. Meanwhile, in Spain, the “Z” has the same sound as the English “th” spelling and can change the meaning in oral speech.
For example: Casa and Caza. In Latin America you can’t tell which one means which in oral speech except from the context, while in Spain you can.
4. Vocabulary
Let the games begin! It is very common to find different names for the same objects depending on the country you are in. This happens not only between Spain and Latin America but also between Latin countries.
Here are some examples:
Teléfono/móvil (Spain) – Celular (LatAm). (Phone)
Coche (Spain) – Carro (LatAm). (Car)
Ordenador (Spain) – Computadora (LatAm). (Computer)
But we also have:
Bolígrafo (Spain and Venezuela) – Lápiz pasta (Chile) – Lapicera/o (Argentina). (Pen)
Palta (Chile y Argentina) – Aguacate (Resto de los países). (Avocado)
Careful! It is very important to pay attention to the change of meaning that some words have depending on the region where they are used. The most famous case is the verb Coger which means to grab or take something in Spain but in Latin America it means to have sex and it is used in the most informal context of all. Ok? Ok.
And here they are! We hope it has become clear to you that no matter which variant of Spanish you learn and use, the 500 million people in the world who speak Spanish will be able to understand you. Likewise, if you hear a person from Spain or any other Latin country speak Spanish, remember that they all do it correctly since all variants are accepted by the Real Academia Española.
So enjoy your Spanish learning process and have fun!
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