{"id":14778,"date":"2022-04-25T23:18:06","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T20:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/?p=14778"},"modified":"2022-04-25T23:18:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T20:18:51","slug":"spanish-in-spain-vs-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mozartcultures.com\/en\/spanish-in-spain-vs-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish in Spain versus in Latin America: 5 Key Differences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you think that Spanish is the same around the world? For a non-native Spanish speaker, it may come as a surprise that Spanish is different in Spain and in Latin America.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These differences, while significant, aren\u2019t a huge barrier to communication between Spanish speakers. Just like British English speakers can understand Americans and Australians; Spaniards can understand Argentinians and Colombians alike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spanish is a Romance language that evolved from Latin that was brought to the Iberian peninsula by the Romans. The first uses of modern-day Spanish date back to the 9th century around the city of Burgos in the Cantabria region in north-central Spain (a region also known as Old Castile). In Spain, Spanish is called \u201c<\/span>castellano<\/span><\/i>\u201d (Castilian) which refers to this Castile province. While 99% of Spaniards say that Castilian is their first or second language, other languages<\/a> in Spain such as Catalan, Basque, Valencian, and Galician are also considered Spanish languages.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spanish is known as \u201cespa\u00f1ol\u201d in Latin America and is the official language in 18 American countries as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Espa\u00f1ol was brought to Latin America back in the 15th century by Spanish colonists who sought to spread the word of God.<\/p>\n

Naturally, Spanish in Latin America has evolved and while some elements of older Spanish remain to this day, other elements have been lost over time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the RAE, the Royal Academy of Spanish Language (La Real Academia de Lengua Espa\u00f1ola<\/a>) puts in place rules that have allowed Spanish to maintain a general structure that is understood worldwide. For this reason, Spanish speakers can largely communicate and understand one another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the minor linguistic distinctions of Spanish spoken worldwide is fascinating, and can help you to better communicate in Spanish speaking countries. The differences between Latin American espa\u00f1ol and Spain Castilian can be broken down into five broad categories:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Pronouns: Voseo, Vosotros, and Ustedes<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most notable differences in spoken Spanish is heard when talking about voseo, or using \u201c<\/span>vos<\/span><\/i>\u201d instead of \u201c<\/span>t\u00fa<\/span><\/i>\u201d as a second person singular pronoun. In Latin American countries like Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, \u201cvos<\/em>\u201d can be used interchangeably with the Spanish Castilian \u201c<\/span>t\u00fa<\/span><\/i>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n