One of the first decisions students who want to learn Spanish have to make is whether to study Spanish from Spain or Spanish from a Latin American country.
But are there really that many differences between the two? In this article, we’ll look at the ten main differences, both linguistic and cultural, between Spanish from Spain and the Spanish spoken in Latin America.
1. Greetings in Latin America and Spain
It is very important to greet people correctly depending on where you are.
The greeting is the first difference you notice when you meet someone from Latin America or Spain. Even within Latin America, you’ll find some differences.
First, let’s distinguish between formal and informal greetings.
In Spain
Formal greeting
- Men and women greet in the same way: with a handshake or by saying hola / buenos días / buenas tardes / buenas noches.
Informal greeting
- Women usually greet with two kisses on the cheek, whether they are greeting a man or a woman.
- Men distinguish between greeting a woman and a man: they usually give a woman two kisses on the cheek and shake hands with a man.
In Latin America
Formal greeting
- Men and women greet in the same way: with a handshake or by saying hola / buenos días / buenas tardes / buenas noches.
Informal greeting
- The main difference with Spain is that in Latin America people usually give just one kiss on the cheek instead of two. Women usually greet with one kiss, whether they are greeting a man or a woman.
- Men in Latin America also distinguish between greeting a woman and a man: they usually give a woman one kiss on the cheek and shake hands with a man.
- Argentina is the exception: in informal situations, men also greet each other with a kiss on the cheek.
2. Accent and Pronunciation in Spain and Latin America
If you’ve ever watched a Latin American series or movie, you may have noticed that people speak a bit differently than in series or movies from Spain. This is because Spanish has many accents, and pronunciation and intonation vary from one place to another.
What factors influence accent differences?
Accent and pronunciation are affected by the following factors:
- Geographical area: the country or region where the speaker comes from.
- Standard register: the normative language, i.e., the one that follows spelling and grammar rules and is taught in classrooms.
- Colloquial register: the language used in more informal, familiar or relaxed contexts.
- Vulgar register: where vulgarisms and incorrect, incomplete or mispronounced words are used.
3. Seseo
This is one of the most obvious differences and helps us recognise someone from Latin America. But be careful! Seseo also exists in Spain, for example in the Canary Islands and in parts of Andalusia, where people pronounce these sounds as in Latin America.
But what is seseo? It means pronouncing the letter c before e and i, and the letter z, as an s. For example:
- Cero → [sero]
- Cima → [sima]
- Zapato → [sapato]
4. Voseo
Voseo is the use of vos instead of tú. Interestingly, this form was once used in Spain for the second person singular, but as a more polite form. Today it is no longer used in Spain, while in many Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Uruguay or parts of Central America, it is used in everyday speech. For example:
- Oye, ¿tú te vas a ver esa peli? → Oye, ¿vos te vas a ver esa peli?
- Yo te quiero a ti. → Yo te quiero a vos.
5. The “yeísmo rehilado”
This is the technical name, but it’s simpler than you think. It is the pronunciation of the letters y and ll with a [sh] sound, especially in Argentina and Uruguay. This difference helps us recognise whether the person we’re listening to comes from this area of Latin America. For example:
- Yo → [sho]
- Llueve → [shueve]
6. Forms of Address in Latin America and Spain
In Spain, people use tú very often (this is called tutear), even with people they don’t know well, while in many Latin American countries usted is more common, even in some informal situations. There is also a change in the plural: in Spain people use vosotros for informal situations, while in Latin America ustedes is used in all situations. For example:
In Spain:
- Tú eres de Colombia, ¿verdad?
- Vosotros sois de Madrid.
In Latin America:
- Usted es de Colombia, ¿verdad?
- Ustedes son de Madrid.
7. Vocabulary in Spain and Latin America
Vocabulary is definitely one of the biggest differences between Spanish from Spain and Latin America. The same word or expression can change depending on the country you’re in. For example, to say “bus”:
- Autobús: Spain
- Bus / buseta: Colombia and Ecuador
- Camión: Mexico
- Guagua: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, also used in the Canary Islands (Spain)
- Colectivo: Argentina
- Ómnibus: Uruguay and Peru
Another example, to say “boyfriend / girlfriend”:
- Novio/a: Spain
- Pololo/a: Chile
- Firme: Peru
- Enamorado/a: Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia
- Chavo/a: Mexico
- Empate: Venezuela
- Jeva: Dominican Republic and Venezuela
8. Diminutives
Diminutives can express affection or the small size of something or someone, although they can also be used in a derogatory way. Most Latin American countries use diminutives more often than Spain, especially in informal situations.
The favourite diminutive in Latin America is -ito, -ita. For example:
- niño, niña (boy, girl) → niñito, niñita
- sombrero (hat) → sombrerito
- gente (people) → gentecita
- bastante (quite, enough) → bastantito
In Spain, the most common suffixes are:
- -illo, -illa: hombre (man) → hombrecillo
- -ito, -ita: mujer (woman) → mujercita
- -ico, -ica: bonito, bonita (pretty) → bonico, bonica
- -ín, -ino, -ina: perro, perra (dog) → perrín, perrino, perrina
Although Spain has a greater variety of suffixes, in Latin America they are used much more often. In addition, in Latin America the diminutive -ito, -ita can be stretched much further. For example:
- ahora (now) → ahorita → ahoritita → ahorititititita
9. Terms of Endearment
Terms of endearment are words we use to refer to someone or something affectionately, to show how important they are to us. Although everyone understands the meaning and intention of Latin American terms of endearment, some of them may sound different or overly sweet to people from Spain. For example:
- A possessive before or after a noun or adjective: mi corazón, mi amor, mi linda / corazón mío, amor mío, linda mía (my heart, my love, my beautiful one).
- Mi cielo and mi ciela are used in Latin America. In Spain, the feminine form sounds strange, and cielo is used for both genders.
- Both Spain and Latin America use affectionate diminutives, usually adding a suffix to certain nouns (often animals or food) and adjectives. For example: galletita, bollito, gatito, ratoncita, guapita, tontito.
- Possessives can also be added before or after the diminutive. For example: mi galletita, galletita mía, mi ratoncito, ratoncita mía, mi tontito, tontito mío.
- Words like mi mami, mami, mamita, mi papi, papi, papito are used for parents, but in Latin America also for a partner. In Spain this sounds a bit strange, since mami and papi are used almost exclusively for parents.
10. Movies in Spanish from Latin America and Spain
This last difference is a curious fact. Many films have two Spanish dubs: one for Spain and one for Latin America. One of the first dubbed films was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which had a rather odd mix of Latin American and Spanish accents.
Over time, dubbing has improved a lot. For years, the Latin American version usually had a Mexican accent and left out accents from other countries, but today more voice actors from all over Latin America take part.
Besides the dubbing, films often have two different Spanish titles. Here are some examples:
- Home Alone → Solo en casa (Spain) / Mi pobre angelito (Latin America)
- The Notebook → El diario de Noa (Spain) / Diario de una pasión (Latin America)
Spanish in Latin America is not the same everywhere either. Discover the main features of each region in our article on the varieties of Spanish in Latin America.
After seeing all these differences, which one did you find most interesting? Did you know them all? Now you can discuss them with your friends and ask them which difference they find most interesting.
