English vs Spanish Language

Are you an English speaker and looking to learn Spanish?

As siblings descended from Romance languages, they naturally share similarities.

Check them out in our English vs. Spanish language comparison!

About English

Even if you are an English speaker, you may not know the history of this language. Let us tell you about English and give you a little tour through its origins.

It dates back to the Germanic invasion of the territory of the North Sea coasts, today known as the Netherlands, North Germany, and Denmark. They overpowered the native inhabitants who spoke Celtic Brythonic and Latin, forcing them to adopt the new language. This was nothing more than a mixture of Latin, Old Norse, and Old Frisian.

Among the invading tribes were Jutes, Frisians, Angles, and Saxons. Hence, Old English is known as Anglo-Saxon.

Unlike Spanish, English has no controlling authority on spelling, grammar, and lexicon. It´s classified into four main strands and several dialects.

• Old English: Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish, and West Saxon.
• Middle English
• Early Modern English
• Modern English

The most spoken varieties of English in the world

• American
• British
• Australian
• Canadian
• South African
• New Zealander
• Indian
• Caribbean

Regional dialects

Europe

• British: England, Northern, Central East, Central West, South, West Country.
• Scotland: Wales
• Ireland: Malta

American

• American: Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, Northern Interior, North Central, Central, South, Western.
• Canadian: Newfoundland, Maritime, Western/Central.
• Bermudian
• Caribbean: Anguilla, Bahamian, Jamaican, Trinidadian
• Belizean
• Falkland Islands

Asian

• Burmese
• Hong Kong
• Pakistani
• Indian
• Malaysian
• Filipino
• Sri Lankan

Oceania

• Australian: Southern, Western
• Fijian
• New Zealander

Other dialects

• Transatlantic

English vs. Spanish Comparison

In this English vs. Spanish comparison, you will notice some pronounced differences between the two languages. But remember that they are languages coming from the same root with interesting similarities. Let’s see what it’s all about.

English language

• Third place as the most spoken native language by 379 million people.
• First place as the most spoken language overall by 1,348 million people.
• The official language in 57 countries, 25 non-sovereign entities, United Nations, European Union, African Union, Commonwealth of Nations, and Council of Europe. NATO, NAFTA, OAS, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Pacific Islands Forum, and UKUSA.

Spanish language

• Second most spoken native language by 379 million people.
• Fourth place as the most spoken language overall by 543 million people.
• An official in 20 countries, 1 dependent entity, 3 U.S. states, as an administrative language; 1 state with limited recognition. ACP, Interpol, IEO, UN, OSCE, ECCAS, AU, ALADI, ALBA-TCP, CAN, Celac, Mercosur, OAS, SICA, NAFTA, Unasur, Europol, EU, Antarctic Treaty.

Interrogation

One of the differences between English vs. Spanish is the interrogation form. English places the verb before the subject and closes with a question mark.

In Spanish, it doesn’t matter where you place the verb. What matters is to write an inverted question mark at the beginning of the question and a straight question mark at the end. Of course, you must not forget the intonation and the direction of the following sentence.

Another tip from Spanish is that accents are used on question words, as opposed to statements.

Signs, accents, and different letters

Spanish vs. English has different signs, accents, and letters that enrich the language. Although both share the same alphabet, Spanish differs in several aspects.

• Signs: The diaeresis is a sign used to give sound to the letter u when it´s preceded by a g. This is done because normally when writing “gue“, the letter u is silent. On the other hand, if you write “güe” it´s because the letter ü does have a sound.
• Accents: Accents are placed only on vowels in Spanish. This is to indicate where the stress is on the syllable.
• Letter Ñ: The letter ñ is unique to Spanish, equivalent to the sound “ny” or “nu”, as in “canyon”.

Verb endings

Spanish has a particularity in that the verb endings are always the same 3 “-ar, –er, –ir”. While in English, they can have any form, but always preceded by “to”.

Order of nouns and adjectives

In Spanish vs. English, the order of nouns and adjectives changes places. In English, we usually put adjective + noun. In Spanish, we place noun + adjective.

Different meanings for the verb to be

The Spanish language has different meanings for the verb to be, “ser“, “estar“, “tener“, and “hacer“. Let’s see how they are differentiated and used.

Other differences between English and Spanish

In addition to those mentioned above, there are other differences between English and Spanish. For example, the pronunciation of the letters “r” or “rr” is much more intense in Spanish. In fact, all letters are pronounced with at least a slight degree of difference.

• Spanish nouns have a gender.
• Negation is easier in Spanish.
• Possessive nouns do not exist in Spanish.
• In Spanish, it is often not necessary to indicate the subject of a sentence.
• Fewer prepositions in Spanish.
• The word “it” is often omitted.
• A period separates the numbers of thousands instead of a comma.
• Spelling is much easier in Spanish.

Even if some things in Spanish seem complicated to you, keep on learning. Spanish is a language rich in history and grammar. Don’t miss out on this amazing adventure!

Loicsuberville I Spanish vs English Tik Tok Compilation 2021 p.1