The languages of Spain
El castellano is official in all of Spain. Other languages are co-official in their own communities, above all el catalán in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, el gallego in Galicia and el vasco (euskera) in the Basque Country and part of Navarre. In the Valencian Community, Catalan is known as valenciano. Galician is close to Portuguese; Basque is not even a Romance language.
| At home we speak Castilian and Catalan. | En casa hablamos castellano y catalán. |
| Galician is very similar to Portuguese. | El gallego es muy parecido al portugués. |
One word, two jobs
Catalán, gallego, vasco and italiano are adjectives, and the masculine form is also the language: el catalán, hablo italiano. Both are written in lowercase.
| masculine | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalan | catalán | catalana | catalanes |
| Galician | gallego | gallega | gallegos |
| international | internacional | internacional | internacionales |
| My flatmate is Catalan. | Mi compañera de piso es catalana. |
In Spain, americano often means from the United States.
| My English teacher is American. | Mi profesor de inglés es americano. |
Tutear: using tú
Tutear is to address someone as tú rather than usted. Spain moves to tú more readily than many Spanish-speaking countries: colleagues and young people normally use it from the start. Usted is still common with older strangers and in formal settings.
| Shall we address each other informally? | ¿Nos tuteamos? |
| I'd prefer you to address me informally. | Prefiero que me tutees. |
Generalizing with uno
Uno + a third-person verb talks about people in general, the speaker included.
| In my office you address everyone informally, the boss too. | En mi oficina uno tutea a todo el mundo, también al jefe. |
El flamenco
Flamenco (song, guitar and dance) has its roots above all in Andalusia.
| Flamenco comes from the south of Spain. | El flamenco viene del sur de España. |
