Mexican Spanish vs Spain Spanish: Expalined in Detailed

Mexican Spanish vs Spain Spanish 

When you are learning Spanish, you may wonder what differences there are between Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish. While the two are related and quite similar, they do have some key differences in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar rules.

In this post, you’ll find details on how to tell the difference between these two forms of Spanish and how they differ from each other.

What is the Mexican Spanish Language?

The Mexican Spanish language is a dialect of the Spanish language that is spoken in Mexico. It is the second most popular variety of Spanish after European Spanish and is spoken by approximately 128 million people.

Mexican Spanish has several distinctive features, including differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Mexican Spanish also has its own unique slang words and expressions. While the Mexican Spanish language is not an official language, it is widely spoken in Mexico City and other parts of North America.

The Spanish spoken in Mexico is heavily influenced by indigenous languages, such as Nahuatl and Maya. As a result, Mexican Spanish has a large number of words that are unique to Mexico. Mexican Spanish also has many loanwords from indigenous languages and English.

Mexican Spanish has many similarities to European Spanish, but there are also some differences in vocabulary and grammar. For example, in Mexican Spanish, the second person singular pronoun (tú) is used more often than in European Spanish.

There are also some differences in spelling between the two varieties of language. For example, in Mexican Spanish, the letter x is often used instead of the letter j (as in axedrez instead of ajedrez).

Mexican Spanish vs Spain Spanish: How They Differ

When you’re in Mexico City, you may notice some locals speaking very quickly with a thick accent. Many people think that this Mexican Spanish is just an accent, but it’s actually completely different from Spain Spanish. Here are six ways that Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish differ from one another in terms of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

Accent

A lot of people are under the impression that if they speak with a heavy accent, then they must be speaking in their native tongue. This may not be true, as those who were born and raised in North America might speak with a heavy accent even though they’re not from Latin America.

In Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Argentina, there are some differences between the accents in each country because of how close to Latin America each country is. There are also some minor differences among the different regions of these countries. When it comes to North America, on the other hand, there’s no distinction between accents across states or provinces.

It all sounds very Americanized, which makes it easy for natives from Latin America to learn North American Spanish, but North Americans will have a harder time learning Latin American Spanish.

The Mexican Style of Speaking

A lot of Mexicans speak English, but they also speak Mexican Spanish. Mexico has Indigenous languages and Indigenous people, so Mexican Spanish is influenced by these two things. For example, Mexicans sometimes use jale, which means Have you been there before? Or que mas? Meaning what else?. These are words that have come from Indigenous languages.

Mexican Spanish also has a faster tempo than Spain Spanish, which is a result of the Indigenous culture and language background.

Stereotypes

Spanish people are very conservative and formalized. For example, they usually wear suits to work every day.
In Central Mexico, the dialect of Spanish is very different from the dialect spoken in Northern Mexico. For example, Norteños use ‘y’ when they should be using ‘e’ and vice versa.

The dialect in Northern Mexico is more similar to English because it was influenced by the colonization of America.

Grammar

Spanish Variants are the different dialects or speech patterns found in Spanish. There are five basic variants: Mexican Spanish, Peninsular Spanish, Andalusian Spanish, Canarian Spanish, and Asturian-Leonese Spanish.

In order to differentiate between them, one needs to know the two dominant dialects of Spanish that make up each variant.

What are the Similarities between Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish?

Mexican Spanish is very similar to Spain Spanish in the following ways;

• Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish are mutually intelligible, meaning that speakers of one can generally understand speakers of the other.
• They both use the same alphabet and have similar grammar rules.
• They both have words with different meanings than in English. For example, the word hormiga means ant in Spanish, but mosquito means little fly.
• They both have loanwords from indigenous languages. For example, the word tamal comes from the Nahuatl word tamalli.
• They both have influence from Arabic due to centuries of Moorish occupation in Spain. This is most evident in vocabulary related to food and architecture.
• Both Spanish slang have regional dialects and accents.
• The Spanish vocabulary is similar in both Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish.
• Both Mexico Spanish and Spain Spanish are members of the Hispánica community.

Differences between Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish

Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish’s most noticeable differences are in pronunciation. For example, a Spanish person would say pero like per-oh, while a Mexican would say it more like pay-row.

Also, there are some differences in vocabulary. For instance, a Mexican might refer to a sweetened carbonated beverage as a Refresco, while in Spain, they would call it a Soda.

Other important noticeable differences that exist between Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish are:

• Mexican Spanish shares similarities with other Latin American countries, such as Colombia or Argentina, while Spain’s Spanish shares similarities with Andalusian, Aragonese, Asturian, Basque and Galician dialects.
• Mexican Spanish native speakers tend to use vosotros instead of ustedes (as second person plural), while Spain Spanish (Spaniards) tend to use ustedes instead of vosotros (as second person plural).
• Mexican Spanish doesn’t use tú when addressing one person familiarly or as an insult, while Spaniards do sometimes use tú when addressing one person familiarly or as an insult.
• Although there are many similarities between the two dialects, the differences can be significant enough that a native speaker of one might have trouble understanding the other.
• Mexican Spanish speakers use hispánica(in Spanish) (hispánicas) whereas Spaniards use hispánico (hispánicos).
• Spaniards use different words to refer to common objects. For example, a Spaniard would say el coche (the car) while a Mexican would say el auto in Spanish slang.
• There are also differences in pronunciation and intonation. For instance, Mexican Spanish tend to roll their rs while Spaniards do not.
• There are also differences in body language while speaking the languages. For example, Spaniards stand closer to each other when talking than Mexicans.

Frequently Asked Questions