From a linguist´s point of view the Spanish language has many varieties, but in popular culture we basically distinguish between two huge categories: the Spanish spoken in Latin America and the Spanish spoken in Spain. The latter also known as castellano (Castillian). The word castellano derives from Castilla, the central region of Spain where there were many castillos (castles) in the Middle Ages. As it usually happens, the center is usually considered the norm, this is why this version of Spanish has the prestige, although it is very important to emphasize that there is not a good and a bad version of a language, only different varieties.
In a series of posts, we are going to study some basic vocabulary differences between el español in Latin America and in Spain. Let’s start with a series of very common verbs.
VERBS
| Latin America | Spain | English |
| tomar / agarrar | coger | to take |
| enojarse | enfadarse | to get angry |
| enfermarse | ponerse enfermo | to get sick |
| manejar | conducir | to drive |
| pararse | ponerse de pie | to stand up |
| estacionar | aparcar | to park |
| extrañar | echar de menos | to miss someone |
| botar | tirar | to throw away |
| tomar | beber | to drink |
| apurarse | darse prisa | to hurry up |
| lastimar(se) | hacer(se) daño | to hurt oneself or others |
| amarrar | atar | to tie up |
| dañarse | estropearse | to stop functioning / to spoil |
| rentar | alquilar | to rent |
In future posts, we’ll take a look at the differences in Spanish vocabulary referring to the home, professions, food… Let´s expand our Spanish horizons!
(Image via Wikimedia Commons)
