Is Argentina Spanish different?

Che, Mati, could you explain to me how is Argentina Spanish different? Sure thing, my friend!

A very common question language learners ask themselves is whether their choice within the dialects of a target language will have a negative effect on their communication with Spanish native speakers from other countries.

Short answer – NO

In the case of such a diverse language as Spanish, it’s highly probable that you’ll find more than one word for the same thing whatever your choice is. However, this is far from preventing a successful communication. Instead, it simply highlights how much of our national identities our national/regional dialects carry.

When you learn from a native teacher, by default you’ll be influenced by their accent and you’ll learn vocabulary items under the name which they are familiar with, but your teacher’s should not be all the input you rely on if you really want to become a fluent speaker. We are very lucky to have thousands of online resources to complement our learning available to us for free.

But let’s unveil the mistery: Is Argentina Spanish different?

Yes, it is, and I’ll tell you how.

Argentina Spanish is different because we use the 2° person pronoun VOS instead of TÚ. This pronoun changes the conjugation of verbs in the present and imperative affirmative forms. This change shifts the stress in the verbs to the last sylable.

This way, please:

In the present,

-AR verbs turn to -ÁS | HABLAR – VOS HABLÁS

-ER verbs turn to -ÉS | SABER- VOS SABÉS

-IR verbs turn to -ÍS | VIVIR – VOS VIVÍS

The only exception is the verb SER, which turns to SOS – ¿De dónde SOS?

In the affirmative imperative,

-AR verbs turn to -Á | HABLAR – HABLÁ

-ER verbs turn to -É | COMER – COMÉ

-IR verbs turn to -Í | ESCRIBIR – ESCRIBÍ

The only exceptions are the verb IR, which turns to ANDÁ and IRSE, which turns to ANDATE

Argentina Spanish is different because we pronounce /y/ and /ll/ very similarly to an sh.

When I say “Yo me llamo Matías”, you’d hear “Sho me shamo Matías”.

Argentina Spanish is different because we avoid the future tense at all costs. Instead, we use the periphrasis [ir] a + INF.

We don’t say “Mañana IRÉ.”, we say “Mañana VOY A IR.”

Argentina Spanish is different because we avoid the use of pretérito perfecto compuesto. Instead, we tend to use pretérito indefinido almost everywhere.

We don’t say “Esta mañana HE ESTADO con Hernán.”, we say “Esta mañana ESTUVE con Hernán.”

Argentina Spanish is different because we adopted (and adapted) many words that immigrants (mainly of Italian origins) brought over with them when they arrived to the country. This is known as LUNFARDO and we’ve addressed some of its peculiarities.

I hope this post has helped you to answer the question that brought you here. Make sure you check the rest of the blog articles.

And, of course, feel welcome to schedule a lesson with me!

Until next time.

Happy Spanish learning,

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