Similarities and Differences between Spanish and English

With millions of speakers spread across various continents, Spanish and English are two of the most widely spoken languages around the globe.

However, despite sharing this major characteristic, they each contain distinct origins, unique characteristics, and notable differences.

If you’re diving into your language learning journey, we’ll walk you through a few of the similarities and differences between Spanish and English so you can further understand these common languages.

Similarities and Differences Between English and Spanish

Learning a new language might feel like a big undertaking, but understanding the origins of a language can help you grasp vocabulary words better, understand cultural nuances, and gain a deeper insight into new expressions!

Spanish vs English Pronunciation

One of the first roadblocks language learners stumble upon are pronunciation differences (phonemic differences) between languages.

Spanish and English are no different. For example, English has about 14 vowel sounds, while Spanish only contains five!

Spanish pronunciation tends to be more phonetic, which means words are pronounced as they’re spelled.

For example, words like gato, libro, and mesa are pronounced exactly as they are written in Spanish.

Conversely, English has a slightly more complex phonetic system — words in English are not always pronounced how they’re spelled.

Take the word “colonel” for example. In English, colonel is pronounced “kur-nuhl” or the word lasagna is pronounced “luh-zaan-yuh”.

These pronunciation differences can be tricky to master at first, but practice makes perfect!

The more you practice saying words out loud, the better you’ll be.

Spanish and English Grammar Comparison

When it comes to Spanish and English grammar, these two languages each follow the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) sentence structure.

This means that constructing basic sentences can be relatively straightforward for speakers of either language.

In addition, both Spanish and English both use articles but with slight differences.

Think of the gender-neutral “the” in English and gendered articles “el” (masculine) and “la” (feminine) for Spanish.

But probably the biggest grammatical difference between Spanish vs English language? Verb conjugations.

Spanish verbs use extensive conjugation, while English conjugations are significantly less extensive.

For example, the Spanish verb “trabajar” (to work) has distinct forms like “trabajo,” “trabajado,” “trabajando,” “trabajamos,” “trabajáis,” and “trabajan” for the present tense alone, while the English verb “work” only changes to “works” in the third person singular.

English and Spanish Vocabulary Similarities

As Spanish and English both have a Latin-based vocabulary, the two languages share many similar vocabulary words.  

These similar vocab words are often referred to as cognates, or words that are “related in origin” or are “descended from the same ancestral root”.

Here’s a quick list of Spanish/English cognates to get you started:

• Actual
• Animal
• Hospital
• Tropical
• Popular
• Regular
• Memorable
• Visible
• Sensible
• Banana
• Chocolate
• Doctor
• Hotel

There are also many near perfect cognates between English and Spanish. These are words that are recognizable between each language but have slightly different spellings.

Near perfect cognates would include words like correct or correcto, perfect or perfecto, and athletic or atlético.

Learning perfect or near perfect cognates is a great way to boost your vocab skills and learn to speak another language more fluently!

However, it’s also good to keep in mind that false cognates exist. False cognates are when words may look similar but have completely different meanings.

Take the English word for “embarrassed” and the Spanish word “embarazada”. While both sound similar, embarazada actually means pregnant!

Being aware of false cognates can also help you up your fluency game and avoid a potentially awkward vocab misstep.

Similarities and Differences Between Spanish and English — Historic Roots

The similarities and differences between Spanish and English have been melded throughout time by various other languages like Latin, French, Arabic, and more.

These language influences have been passed down throughout different eras of history, like the Moorish occupation in Spain to the colonization of the Americas.

The influence of other languages and cultures has become evident in certain vocabulary words we use today. Like the English word “alchemy” or the Spanish word azúcar which both have Arabic origins!

Spanish vs English Language — Ready to See for Yourself?

These two Latin alphabet languages may look completely different when you first start your language learning journey.

However, keep in mind that Spanish and English alphabets use a majority of the same letters, which means that there are thousands of cognates between the two.

Once you’ve got a handle on each system, it can be easier to understand and begin to pick up the similarities.

If you can understand at least a few of the similarities and differences between Spanish and English, you’ll be speaking and writing fluently in no time!