Spain Spanish vs Latin American Spanish: An Honest Guide

If you are learning Spanish in the UK, you will soon run into the question of Spain Spanish vs Latin American Spanish. Courses pick a side, tutors have opinions, and forums argue about it for pages.

The reassuring part first: whichever you choose, you are learning Spanish. A newspaper from Madrid and one from Mexico City follow the same spelling rules and the same grammar, and the Open University notes that the regional differences do not cause major problems for native speakers understanding each other. Where they part ways is mainly in the accent and in the words people reach for. This guide starts from Spain, because that is where most of our readers are heading, and works through the sounds, the vocabulary and two small grammar points before answering the question you came with: which one should you learn?

What is the difference between Spain Spanish and Latin American Spanish?

Mostly sound and vocabulary. Spain says z and c with a th sound, and many everyday objects have different names. On top of that there are two grammar habits: vosotros for a group of friends in Spain, and a preference in most of Spain for the perfect tense when talking about today.

Two quick definitions. Spain Spanish (also called Castilian or European Spanish) is the Spanish spoken in Spain. Latin American Spanish is a convenient label for the Spanish of many different countries, and it is not one single accent: Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Cuba all sound different from each other. Spain is not uniform either. Andalusia and the Canary Islands share several features with Latin America.

Here is the short version in a table:

How is the pronunciation different?

The biggest difference is the th sound. In most of Spain, z and c before e or i sound like the th in “think”. In Latin America they sound like s. A few other sounds, like the Spanish j, also vary, and they vary within Spain too.

Distinción, seseo and ceceo

These three words describe what a speaker does with s, z and c.

• Distinción means keeping two separate sounds: an s for the letter s, and a th sound for z and for c before e or i. According to the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (published by the Real Academia Española, or RAE, and the other Spanish language academies), this is how z is pronounced in the centre, north and east of Spain.
• Seseo means using an s sound for all of them, so cerveza sounds like “ser-BEH-sa”. The RAE says seseo is general across Latin America, is normal in the Canary Islands and part of Andalusia, and is fully accepted as correct.
• Ceceo is the opposite of seseo: the letter s is pronounced with a th sound, so casa sounds like “KA-tha”. The RAE describes it as a regional feature of some areas of southern Spain, much less widespread than seseo.

You will sometimes see “ceceo” used online to mean Spain’s th sound in general. Strictly, that is distinción. If you are learning for Spain, distinción is the one to aim for.

Here is how it sounds in practice:

Look at the last two. With distinción, coser and cocer sound different. With seseo they sound the same, and the rest of the sentence makes it obvious which one you mean.

The j sound

In the centre, north and east of Spain, the j (and g before e or i) is a strong, throaty sound, close to the ch in the Scottish word “loch”. The RAE notes that in southern Spain, the Canary Islands and large parts of Latin America it is often softer, closer to an English h. So jamón (ham) and mujer (woman) can sound quite different depending on who is speaking.

Ll and y

In most places today, ll and y sound the same, so llamo (I call) and yo (I) start with the same sound. The RAE calls this yeísmo and notes it is widespread in both Spain and Latin America. In Argentina and Uruguay, the RAE notes that this sound is made with strong friction, so many people say it like the sh in “shop” or the s in “measure”. It is one of the first things you notice in a Buenos Aires accent.

Softened s

In southern Spain, the Canary Islands and much of Latin America, many speakers soften an s at the end of a syllable into a breathy h, or drop it. The RAE describes this aspiration of s as widespread in Andalusian, Extremaduran, Murcian and Canarian Spanish. ¿Cómo estás? can come out closer to “¿cómo ehtá?”, and pescado (fish) closer to “pehKAdo”. You don’t need to copy this, but it helps to know it exists when you visit Málaga or Seville.

Do you need to learn vosotros?

If you are learning for Spain, yes. Vosotros is the informal “you all”, the word you use for a group of friends, family or anyone you would call tú individually. In most of Spain it is used every day. In Latin America people use ustedes instead.

The RAE confirms that vosotros is the informal plural in most of Spain, and that it is not used in Latin America, the Canary Islands or western Andalusia, where ustedes covers every group.

Some phrases you will hear in Spain:

In Spain, ustedes still exists, but it is the polite form: a waiter might ask an older couple ¿Qué van a tomar ustedes? Because ustedes takes the same verb endings as ellos, the RAE points out that mixing them, as in ustedes habéis, is a mistake. It is ustedes han, or vosotros habéis.

Latin America has its own twist. In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and much of Central America, people often say vos instead of tú for one person, with its own verb forms: vos tenés rather than tú tienes. The RAE’s entry on voseo maps where it is used. Vos is not used in everyday Spanish in Spain.

Which everyday words are different?

Quite a few everyday words differ, but most of the core vocabulary is shared. You will be understood with either set, and you will pick up the other one quickly once you hear it. Here are some you will meet around the house, out and about, and at the shops:

The RAE dictionary backs these up with regional labels: it marks manejar in the sense of “to drive” and heladera for “fridge” as American usage, and lists canilla for “tap” in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The bus is a good example of how Latin America isn’t one word list either. In Mexico it is often el camión, and in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru el colectivo. Even Spain has its own twist: in the Canary Islands, as in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, the bus is la guagua.

A word to watch: coger

In Spain, coger is an everyday verb for taking or catching something: Cojo el tren a las ocho (I get the train at eight). In several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela, it is also a vulgar word for sex, as the RAE dictionary records. In Spain, use it freely. In those countries, say tomar or agarrar instead.

Is the past tense different too?

Yes, a little. In most of Spain, something that happened earlier today usually goes in the perfect tense (a form of haber, such as he, has or ha, plus the past participle). In much of Latin America, the simple past is normal for the same thing. Say it either way and you will be understood.

A Málaga morning, told two ways:

• Spain: Esta mañana he bajado a la playa antes de trabajar. (I went down to the beach this morning before work.)
• Much of Latin America: Esta mañana bajé a la playa antes de trabajar.

The split is not a neat line across the Atlantic. The RAE’s Nueva gramática básica notes that the simple past also covers much of this ground in northwest Spain and the Canary Islands, as well as in much of Argentina and Chile, while in Mexico, much of Central America and countries such as Venezuela it is used for finished actions even when they are very recent.

More examples from Spain:

• ¿Qué has hecho esta mañana? (What have you done this morning?)
• Esta mañana he ido al mercado. (I went to the market this morning.)
• Ayer fui al mercado. (I went to the market yesterday.)

Notice the last one. For yesterday and earlier, Spain uses the simple past too. The perfect tense is for time that hasn’t finished yet: today, this week, this year.

Which should you learn as a UK learner?

Learn the Spanish of the people you will actually talk to. For most UK learners that means Spain: holidays, a flat on the Costa del Sol, a Spanish partner, or a move to Madrid or Valencia.

There are practical reasons too. The Open University notes that most Spanish teaching materials in Britain come from Spain, so the classes and textbooks you meet here will usually be based on the Spanish of Spain.

Choose a Latin American variety instead if your partner is from Bogotá, you are planning six months in Mexico, or you work with colleagues in Buenos Aires. In that case, focus on that country rather than a general “Latin American” Spanish.

Whichever you pick, switching later is mostly a matter of getting used to new sounds and words, not starting again. The bigger challenge is the same for everyone: speaking takes months of practice out loud. Our guide to practising speaking Spanish on your own has a simple daily routine.

If Spain is your choice, that is what we are building Spanish Out Loud for: learn to speak Spain Spanish out loud with Carlito, a friendly AI conversation partner from Málaga. He corrects you gently and explains words when you ask.

How can you practise the Spain Spanish sounds?

Say them out loud, little and often. Reading about the th sound won’t make it automatic. Saying it again and again will.

Try this for a few minutes a day:

1. Th words. Say gracias, cerveza, cinco, doce, zumo and Barcelona with a clear th. Exaggerate it at first.
2. Pairs. Say coser and cocer one after the other, and feel your tongue move between your teeth on the second one.
3. The j. Say jamón, ajo and Juan from the back of your throat, like the end of “loch”.
4. Vosotros questions. Ask an imaginary group ¿Qué queréis tomar? and ¿Habéis comido ya? until the endings come out without thinking.
5. Shadow. Find a short clip of someone from Spain and speak along with them, copying the rhythm. This is the idea behind the listen, shadow and recall steps we use.

It will feel strange at first. Then one day gracias with a th will just sound like gracias.