Spanish is spoken by over 400 million people all around the world, including in the more than 20 countries where it’s an official language—so it’s no wonder there are so many Spanish dialects and accents! Regional dialects are the ways people in different places speak differently, as over time we tend to speak more like the people we interact with the most… our neighbors!
Spanish dialects around the world
The Spanishes spoken around the world vary by the vocabulary they use (especially slang and words for food), how they’re pronounced, and even the pronoun used for “you”! Learners can hear different dialects when they watch Spanish-language movies and TV shows (pay attention to what country they’re from) and by listening to music from Spanish-speaking artists. For example, you can learn a lot of Puerto Rican Spanish from Bad Bunny!
The varieties of Spanish used today reflect each community’s history—including their political, linguistic, and cultural histories. When the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they encountered people who spoke hundreds of languages, so now the Spanishes of each country include many words and characteristics from those languages. (Some words even made it to English! 🍫)
As very often happens with dialects and accents, some of the words and pronunciations listed below won’t be true for all regions and all speakers in the country—and some features we list for a particular country are common in other countries as well!
Here are some facts about 6 of the Spanish dialects you’ll find around the world.
Argentinian Spanish
Colombian Spanish
Cuban Spanish
Mexican Spanish
Peruvian Spanish
Spain Spanish
A note on how to say “you”
Argentinian Spanish
👄 Pronunciation tip
In Argentinian Spanish, the letters “ll” and “y” are pronounced a lot like the English sound “sh,” as in sheep. That means that you’ll hear pronunciations yo (I) and calle (street) in Argentina, which may sound like yo and calle in other dialects!
You also might hear “s” at the end of a word or syllable dropped or pronounced like an “h”—for example, you might hear los gatos comen (the cats are eating) in Argentina, but los gatos comen elsewhere.
🫵 How to say “you”
Singular Plural Informal vos* ustedes Formal usted* To conjugate verbs for vos, the stress of the verb changes to the last syllable, and you add an accent mark. You’ll find examples at the end of this post!
👥 Other languages spoken in Argentina
There are many indigenous languages spoken in Argentina, and many come from different language families—which means their vocabularies, grammars, and pronunciations are totally unrelated! For example, Aymara, Guaraní, Mapuche, Quechua, and Wichí are 5 indigenous language families spoken in different parts of Argentina today.
There are also large communities of Italian, Arabic, and German speakers in Argentina, and Welsh is an official language in the southern province of Chubut!
🔥 Cool slang
One word you’ll definitely hear in Argentina is che—and it’s not easy to define! It means “hey” when you start a sentence or conversation and “C’mon!” as a response or to grab someone’s attention. It can have other meanings depending on the context!
You’ll also hear people talk about buena onda and mala onda! Onda basically just means vibes, so buena onda is good vibes, while mala onda is bad vibes. And just like in English, they can be used to describe a person, a place, or a situation.
Finally, you might hear the syllable re before a lot of words. It’s just a way to emphasize something (like really or a lot in English), and it’s very flexible: You can use it before a verb, like ¡Me re gusta! (I like it a lot!) or an adjective, like Antonio es re copado (Antonio is really cool).
Here are a few more words and phrases you’ll hear in Argentina.
Argentinian Spanish English 👋 ¿Qué onda? What’s up? How’s it going? 💰 guita money 💼 laburar to work 😎 copado cool 🧃 sorbete straw 🚌 colectivo bus 🚘 auto, máquina car🍽 Food words
If you’re going to Argentina, be prepared for asado (barbecue, literally “grill”) and yerba mate—a tea-like drink made from the yerba mate plant and often called simply mate. The word mate comes from Quechua and means “small pumpkin”… which was traditionally the container from which you would drink your hot yerba mate through a bombilla—a special straw just for mate!
Colombian Spanish
🫵 How to say “you”
Singular Plural Informal tú ustedes Formal usted** In Colombia, usted (the formal pronoun) is sometimes used informally as well. You might hear it between close friends and family to show affection!
👥 Other languages spoken in Colombia
Several dozen indigenous and creole languages are also spoken in Colombia, including Palenquero—this creole developed over 400 years ago by enslaved Africans in Colombia who escaped their captors and formed communities called palenques in the interior of the country.
The indigenous languages of Colombia are very diverse and include languages from the Tupi-Guaraní family (which stretches down all the way to Argentina), the Quechua family (which includes languages spoken all along the western coast of South America), the Cariban family of languages along the Caribbean coast (which is where the name “Caribbean” comes from!), and the Arawakan family (which includes many languages from central and northern South America). And that’s only the beginning!
🔥 Cool slang
Colombian Spanish English 👋 ¿Cómo vas? What’s up? How’s it going? 🗣️ parce, parcero dude, guy 💰 plata money 💼 camellar to work 😎 chévere, bacano cool 🤝 llave friend 💅 gomelo snob 🧃 pitillo straw🍽 Food words
Colombian Spanish English 🥑 aguacate avocado 🌽 maíz corn 🍑 durazno peach 🥜 maní, cacahuate peanut 🥪 sándwich, sánduche, sánguche sandwich ☕️ tinto coffee (not wine!)Cuban Spanish
👄 Pronunciation tip
The Spanish varieties spoken in the Caribbean have a lot in common, so Cuban Spanish will share some pronunciation characteristics with Puerto Rico, like how at the end of words “s” is often not pronounced and that “r” at the end of words is pronounced as “l.”
Another pronunciation you’ll notice in Cuban Spanish is that “d” is often not pronounced between vowels, and this can happen with “b” as well. For example, you might hear el sábado pasado (last Saturday) in Cuba, which would sound like el sábado pasado in other places!
🫵 How to say “you”
Singular Plural Informal tú ustedes Formal usted👥 Other languages spoken in Cuba
While no indigenous languages survive in Cuba today, Cuban Spanish shows influences of Taíno (an Arawakan language), which was spoken on the island when it was colonized by the Spanish. Spanish adopted the Taíno words maíz (corn), barbacoa (barbecue), huracán (hurricane), and canoa (canoe). Cuban Spanish also borrowed from Yoruba (a Niger-Congo language of West Africa), and Yoruba is still used today as the holy language of the Afro-Cuban religion Santería.
🔥 Cool slang
Cuban Spanish English 👋 ¿Qué bolá? What’s up? How’s it going? 🗣️ acere dude, guy 💰 guani money 💼 pincha work 😎 en talla cool 🧃 absorbente, pitillo straw 🚌 camello, guagua bus 🚘 almendrón car (specifically, an old car from the 1950s)🍽 Food words
Cuban Spanish English 🥑 aguacate avocado 🌽 maíz corn 🍑 melocotón peach 🥜 maní peanut 🥪 emparedado, bocadito sandwichMexican Spanish
🫵 How to say “you”
Singular Plural Informal tú* ustedes Formal usted* Some speakers in Chiapas (a state in southern Mexico) use vos for the informal singular pronoun.
👥 Other languages spoken in Mexico
Hundreds of indigenous languages and dialects are spoken in Mexico today, with the two most prominent being Nahuatl (a Uto-Aztecan language descended from what the Aztecs spoke) and Yucatec Maya. There are many other Mayan languages spoken in Mexico, too, as well as languages unrelated to Nahuatl and the Mayan languages, including languages in the Oto-Manguean family. Many Nahuatl words were borrowed into Spanish and then later into English, like tomate (tomato), aguacate (avocado), and chocolate (chocolate).
🔥 Cool slang
Mexican Spanish English 👋 ¿Qué onda? What’s up? How’s it going? 🗣️ güey, cuate, carnal dude, guy 💰 varo, lana money 💼 chamba work 😎 chido, padre cool 💅 fresa friend 🧃 popote straw 🚌 camión bus🍽 Food words
Mexican Spanish English 🥑 aguacate avocado 🌽 esquites, elote, maíz (these 3 are used for different parts of the corn!) corn 🍑 durazno peach 🥜 cacahuate peanut 🥪 sándwich, torta, lonche sandwichPeruvian Spanish
🫵 How to say “you”
Singular Plural Informal tú ustedes Formal usted👥 Other languages spoken in Peru
In addition to Spanish, Quechua and Aymara are official languages in certain regions of Peru, including the Andes and the areas east of the Andes. Quechua comes from the languages spoken by the Incas, and Spanish borrowed many Quechua words, such as llama (for the animal llama), papa (potato), puma (cougar, mountain lion), and guano (dung from bats and birds). You might recognize that some of those have been borrowed into English, too!
🔥 Cool slang
Peruvian Spanish English 👋 ¡Habla! What’s up? How’s it going? 🗣️ causa dude, guy 💰 lucas money 💼 chamba work 😎 chévere, mostro cool 🤝 pata, choche friend 💅 pituco snob 🧃 cañita strawA lot of Peru is in the Andes, meaning that many Peruvians live at high elevations! However, if you’re not accustomed to the altitude and you visit Lake Titicaca or Cusco (both of which are over 11,000 feet/3,000 meters above sea level!), you might suffer from soroche, the regional word for altitude sickness.
🍽 Food words
Peruvian Spanish English 🥑 palta avocado 🌽 choclo corn 🍑 durazno peach 🥜 maní peanut 🥪 sánguche sandwichSpain Spanish
👄 Pronunciation tip
The most noticeable pronunciation difference between European Spanish (also called Peninsular Spanish) and Latin American Spanishes is the “th” sound: European Spanish pronounces “z,” “ce,” and “ci” like the English “th” in think. That means that in Spain you’ll hear haces (you do) rather than haces, cierto (true) rather than cierto, and pez (fish) rather than pez.
🫵 How to say “you”
Singular Plural Informal tú vosotros, vosotras* Formal usted** ustedes*** Vosotros doesn’t only affect verbs in the present tense! It has its own forms in other tenses, as well as its own pronouns.
** Even though tú and vosotros are technically informal, you will also hear them instead of usted and ustedes in some formal situations in Spain.
👥 Other languages spoken in Spain
Spanish is the official language throughout the country, and some regions have an additional official language: Aranese, Basque, Catalan, Galician, or Valencian. All of these are Romance languages descended from Latin—except for Basque. Basque is what’s called a language isolate: It’s not related to any other language on earth, including the other languages spoken in Spain!
In addition to the official languages, many other languages and dialects are spoken across Spain, including Asturian in Asturias and Silbo Gomero, a whistled version of Spanish used in the Canary Islands.
🔥 Cool slang
European Spanish English 👋 ¿Qué tal? What’s up? How’s it going? 🗣️ tío/tía dude, guy/girl 💰 pasta, pavos money 💼 curro work 😎 guay cool 💅 pijo snob 🧃 pajita, pajilla straw 🚘 coche carThere’s also lots more unique slang in Spain!
🍽 Food words
European Spanish English 🥑 aguacate avocado 🌽 maíz corn 🍑 melocotón peach 🥜 cacahuete (not cacahuate, like in Latin America!) peanut 🥪 bocadillo sandwichA note on how to say “you”
You may have noticed how many different ways there are to say “you” in the Spanish-speaking world! Here’s a cheat sheet with conjugations for each pronoun, plus an overview of when and where you’re most likely to hear each.
Pronoun Present-tense examples vos Vos hablás muy bien.You speak very well.
Vos comés temprano.
You eat early.
Vos vivís cerca.
You live nearby. tú Tú hablas muy bien.
You speak very well.
Tú comes temprano.
You eat early.
Tú vives cerca.
You live nearby. usted Usted habla muy bien.
You speak very well.
Usted come temprano.
You eat early.
Usted vive cerca.
You live nearby. vosotros Vosotros habláis muy bien.
You (all) speak very well.
Vosotros coméis temprano.
You (all) eat early.
Vosotros vivís cerca.
You (all) live nearby. ustedes Ustedes hablan muy bien.
You (all) speak very well.
Ustedes comen temprano.
You (all) eat early.
Ustedes viven cerca.
You (all) live nearby.
And many, many more!
Just like with English, how people speak Spanish depends on more than just the country they’re from: There are also particular patterns for different regions, cities, and neighborhoods, ages and genders, education levels, and other parts of the speaker’s identity!
If you’re a learner interested in a particular country or region, the best way to get practice with that dialect is to interact with it! Keep up with your Duolingo lessons to develop a broad foundation in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, and add to your study plan the music, movies, TV, and social media accounts from the county you’re interested in.
“Hey so this is actually crazy”: Mom of three slammed over $476 “junk” grocery haul