Spanish is one of the world’s most spoken languages and currently ranks 2nd on the list of most spoken languages by number of native speakers (after Mandarin). It is spoken as a first language in many American countries and in Europe.
Language Length
Tends to be 15-20% longer than English.
Regional Differences
Many words are different in the various regional forms of Spanish (e.g. Latin American Spanish “computadora” = Spanish “ordenador” (computer) or Latin American “anteojos” instead of “gafas” (sunglasses).
Notable Grammar and Spelling Differences
Question marks and Exclamation Marks: Spanish is the only language to use inverted question marks and exclamation marks. Question/exclamation marks are placed at the end of a qualifying statement, as in English, but an inverted mark is also placed at the beginning of the statement, for example: ¿Where are you going? ¡Not there! Strangely, while inverted punctuation used to sometimes appear in other languages used in Spain (e.g. Galician, Catalan), none of them use it today.
Quotation marks: Usually chevron style <<>>
Numbers: The comma is used where English would use the decimal point and vice versa, e.g. 5.5 (English) = 5,5 (Spanish)… but 5,000 (English) is 5.000 (Spanish).
