Spanish language

Spanish, also known as español or Castilian (castellano), is a language that belongs to the Indo-European language family. It began from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe and grew from the language used in the Kingdom of Castile, a historic kingdom in north-central Spain. Today, Spanish is spoken by millions of people around the world. There are about 519 million native speakers, mostly living in the Americas and Spain, and around 636 million people who speak it including those who learned it as a second language.

Spanish is very important globally. It is the official language in 20 countries and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese, and the fourth-most spoken language overall when you count both native and second-language speakers. The country with the most native Spanish speakers is Mexico.

As a Romance language, Spanish comes from Latin, and about 75% of its words have Latin roots. It is one of the most studied languages in schools around the world, along with English and French. Many important subjects like the humanities and social sciences use Spanish. It is also widely used on the internet and by many international groups such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization of American States.

Name of the language and etymology

Main article: Names given to the Spanish language

In Spain and many Spanish-speaking places, the language is called español or castellano. Castellano comes from the Kingdom of Castile, a region in north-central Spain. This name helps to distinguish it from other languages spoken in Spain, such as Galician, Basque, Asturian, Catalan/Valencian, Aragonese, and Occitan.

The term castellano relates to Castile, which likely got its name from the word castillo, meaning "castle." Over time, the language spoken there became known as Romance castellano, and later simply castellano. The word español comes from an old form of a language called Occitan and traces back to Latin words for the area known as Hispania, the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula.

History

Main article: History of the Spanish language

The Spanish language grew from a form of Latin that Romans brought to the Iberian Peninsula around 210 BC. Before the Romans, many different languages were spoken there.

The first signs of what we now call Spanish appeared in writing in the 9th century. Over time, Spanish picked up words from other nearby languages, like Arabic, French, and Italian. It also changed its sounds and spelling in many interesting ways. Today, Spanish is spoken by millions of people around the world.

Geographical distribution

See also: Hispanophone

Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2025, it is estimated that about 519 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers. An additional 117 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language, making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 636 million speakers. Spanish is also the third most used language on the Internet, after English and Chinese.

Europe

Main article: Peninsular Spanish

Spanish is the official language of Spain. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra. Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany. Spanish is the most widely studied Romance language in Europe.

Americas

Hispanic America

Today, the majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America. Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure—of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

United States

See also: Spanish language in California, New Mexican Spanish, and Isleño Spanish

Spanish language has a long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of the U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, where it is also an official language along with English.

Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico.

Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

See also: Equatoguinean Spanish

Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period. Spanish features prominently in the Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business.

North Africa and Macaronesia

See also: Canarian Spanish and Saharan Spanish

Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands.

Asia

See also: Chavacano, Philippine Spanish, and Spanish language in the Philippines

Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973.

Oceania

Spanish is the official and most spoken language on Easter Island, which is geographically part of Polynesia in Oceania and politically part of Chile. However, Easter Island's traditional language is Rapa Nui, an Eastern Polynesian language.

Grammar

Main article: Spanish grammar

Spanish has many rules that are shared with other languages from the same family. It is a language where words change their form to show different meanings. Nouns and adjectives can be either male or female, and they can be single or plural. Verbs in Spanish come in many forms to show time, like past or future, and to show if something is certain or just possible.

Spanish usually puts important words first, followed by extra details. It uses small words called prepositions to show relationships between things, and often places describing words after the main noun. The language can change the order of words to show what is most important in a sentence.

Phonology

Main article: Spanish phonology

The sounds of Spanish developed from ancient Latin. Spanish has special ways of pronouncing words that set it apart from its close neighbors. For example, some sounds that existed in Latin changed or disappeared in Spanish but stayed in other languages.

Spanish uses five main vowel sounds and between 17 and 19 consonant sounds, depending on the region. The way these sounds change depending on their position in a word helps give Spanish its unique rhythm and flow. Stress in Spanish words usually falls on one of the last three syllables, and special marks can tell you exactly where to place the emphasis.

Speaker population

Spanish is the official language in 18 countries and one territory in the Americas, Spain, and Equatorial Guinea. Most Spanish speakers live in the Americas, with Mexico having the largest number of people who speak Spanish at home. In the European Union, about 8% of people speak Spanish as their first language, and another 7% speak it as a second language.

Spanish is also very common in the United States. In 2015, around 50 million people spoke Spanish there, with about 41 million being native speakers. As more people from Spanish-speaking countries move to the U.S. and as the language becomes more used in schools and media, the number of Spanish speakers in America is expected to grow even more in the future.

Dialectal variation

Main article: Spanish dialects and varieties

Spanish changes a little depending on where it is spoken. People in different places say words slightly differently, use different sounds, and sometimes even use different words for the same thing.

The most common type of Spanish is Mexican Spanish, spoken by over 112 million people. One special feature of Mexican Spanish is that some sounds, especially when they are not stressed, can change or disappear.

In Spain, people in the north often think their way of speaking is closer to the standard, but people in the south are also proud of how they speak. The way people in Madrid speak is often used in TV and radio. Over time, the way people speak in the center and south of Spain has been changing and mixing together.

Phonology

See also: Phonetic change "f → h" in Spanish

Spanish sounds can change in four main ways:

• The sound made with the letters c and z (like the th in thing) is used by most people in Spain, especially in the north and middle parts. But in southern Spain, the Canary Islands, and most of Latin America, this sound changes to the s sound.
• In southern Spain and parts of Latin America, the s sound at the end of syllables can change to a softer h sound or disappear completely.
• In northern and central Spain, the s sound is made with the tongue a little further back in the mouth. In southern Spain, the Canary Islands, and most of Latin America (except some parts of Colombia), the s sound is made more forward with the teeth.
• The sound made with the letters ll (like the ll in million) is kept in some parts of northern Spain and in highland areas of South America, Paraguay, and Bolivia. But in most other places, this sound changes to the y sound (like the y in yacht).

Morphology

Spanish words and ways of speaking can change a little, especially when talking to someone else.

Voseo

Main article: Voseo

Most Spanish speakers have two ways to say “you”: a formal way and a friendly way. The formal way is usted. The friendly way can be either tú or vos, depending on where you are. Using vos and its verb forms is called voseo.

In places like Argentina, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Uruguay, vos is used a lot in everyday talking. But in places like Mexico, most of Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and coastal Ecuador, tú is used instead.

Ustedes

Ustedes is used for “you all” in most of Latin America and some parts of Spain. In most of Spain, people use vosotros for “you all” in friendly situations and ustedes for formal situations.

Usted

Usted is used for “you” in formal situations, like when talking to someone older or in a position of authority. In some countries like Colombia and Costa Rica, usted is also used in friendly situations instead of tú or vos.

Third-person object pronouns

Most Spanish speakers use lo and la for “him” or “her” and le for “to him” or “to her”. Some areas have different rules for these words.

Vocabulary

Words can be different in different Spanish-speaking countries. For example, the word for “butter” is mantequilla in Spain but manteca in Argentina and some other places. The word for “avocado” is aguacate in Spain but palta in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Vocabulary

Spanish words come from many different places. Like other European languages, Spanish uses many words that started in Classical Greek, especially in art, science, and politics. During a time called Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish also picked up words from Arabic. About 8% of Spanish words have roots in Arabic.

Spanish has also borrowed words from many other languages. These include nearby languages like Basque, Celtiberian, and Visigothic, as well as other Romance languages such as French, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, and Occitan. Words also came from languages of the Americas, like Quechua and Nahuatl.

In the 1700s, Spanish added many words from French, especially about fashion and cooking. In the 1800s, it borrowed words from English, German, and Italian, particularly in music and food. By the 1900s, English had an even bigger influence, especially in technology, computers, and sports.

In places where Spanish is spoken in the Americas, like Hispanic America, many English words are used. For example, the word for a computer mouse is often just mouse, while in Spain the word ratón is used. This difference is because countries in the Americas have more contact with the United States. Meanwhile, Spain often uses words from France, like ordenador for computer, unlike the English-based words used in American Spanish.

Relation to other languages

Further information: Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

Spanish shares many similarities with other languages from the same family, especially those spoken in nearby areas of Europe. It is closely related to languages like Asturian, Aragonese, Galician, Ladino, Leonese, Mirandese, and Portuguese. People who speak Spanish and Portuguese can often understand each other when reading or writing, even though they may sound quite different when speaking.

The table below shows how some everyday words compare across several of these languages. This helps us see how languages change and share ideas over time.

1. In Romance etymology, Latin terms are given in the Accusative since most forms derive from this case.
2. As in "us very selves", an emphatic expression.
3. Also nós outros in early modern Portuguese (e.g. The Lusiads), and nosoutros in Galician.
4. Alternatively nous autres in French.
5. noialtri in many Southern Italian dialects and languages.
6. Medieval Catalan (e.g. Llibre dels fets).
7. Modified with the learned suffix -ción.
8. Depending on the written norm used (see Reintegrationism).
9. From Basque esku, "hand" + erdi, "half, incomplete". This negative meaning also applies for Latin sinistra(m) ("dark, unfortunate").
10. Romanian caș (from Latin cāsevs) means a type of cheese. The universal term for cheese in Romanian is brânză (from unknown etymology).

Judaeo-Spanish

Further information: Judaeo-Spanish

Judaeo-Spanish, also called Ladino, is a special form of Spanish that kept many older words and sounds. It was used by Jewish families who lived in Spain long ago. Today, most people who speak Judaeo-Spanish live in places like Israel, Turkey, and the United States. This language is slowly being forgotten, but some communities are working to keep it alive, especially through music.

A related way of speaking is Haketia, used in northern Morocco. It too is blending into modern Spanish.

Writing system

Main article: Spanish orthography

Spanish is written with the Latin script, including a special letter called ⟨ñ⟩ (eñe). This letter is different from the regular n and makes a special sound. In the past, some pairs of letters like ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨ll⟩ were also treated as single letters, but today they are just pairs of letters.

The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. Letters like k and w are only used in words borrowed from other languages, like kilo or whisky.

Spanish spelling helps you know how to say a word. Usually, the stress is on the syllable before the last one if the word ends in a vowel, n, or s. Sometimes an accent mark is used to show the correct stress or to tell apart words that sound alike but mean different things, like el (the) and él (he or it). Questions and exclamations start with special upside-down marks (¿ and ¡) to make them easy to spot.

Organizations

Royal Spanish Academy

Main article: Royal Spanish Academy

The Royal Spanish Academy, founded in 1713, helps keep the Spanish language consistent. It creates dictionaries and guides for grammar and writing that many people use in books, schools, and news.

Association of Spanish Language Academies

Main article: Association of Spanish Language Academies

The Association of Spanish Language Academies was started in Mexico in 1951. It brings together language experts from 23 countries where Spanish is spoken. These countries include Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Philippines, Panama, Cuba, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Puerto Rico, United States, and Equatorial Guinea.

Cervantes Institute

Main article: Instituto Cervantes

The Cervantes Institute was created by the Spanish government in 1991. It has centers in 45 countries, helping people learn Spanish and understand Spanish culture. The institute works to teach Spanish to learners around the world and support Spanish-speaking cultures in places where Spanish isn't commonly spoken.

Official use by international organizations

For a more comprehensive list, see List of countries where Spanish is an official language § International organizations.

Spanish is an official language in many important groups around the world, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, and the Organization of American States. It is also used by the Organization of Ibero-American States, the African Union, and many other international groups.

Sample text

Here is the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Spanish:

Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos y, dotados como están de razón y conciencia, deben comportarse fraternalmente los unos con los otros.

And in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.