Enviar / Mandar... Differences ¿?
Listening to my audio discs in the car last year I heard Michelle Thomas teach me that that the Spanish for 'to send' is 'mandar', & I could relate to this. Then I learnt that there is another word, 'enviar', which made even more sense as it reminded me of the French, 'envoyer' (I don't think Mr Thomas ever mentioned this alternative).
However, I remain unclear on the differences, if any, if meaning. Are there differences in meaning ? Is it a regional / dialect thing ? Or are they interchangeable ?
To an English-speaker, 'mandar' suggests something to do with 'ordering' or 'commanding' (i.e. mandatory / mandate), whereas 'enviar' has a more straightforward sense of sending (envoy).
2 Answers
The following was posted on SpanishDict on Sept 3 1911 The question was asked by Tosh.
Here's the answer that was given. I agree with it wholeheartedly.
lazarus1907 In the sense of sending something or someone, I think they are the same, but "mandar" also means to command, to give orders, to give people instructions...
Enviar comes form Latin inviare (ir- + via), which means to put on its way (-> via). Think of English "envoy". "Mandar" comes ultimately from Latin manus (hand), being something like putting something in someone's hands. Think of English "mandatory", "demand", "command", "mandate"...
Sep 3, 2011 | Edited by lazarus1907 Sep 3, 2011 | link | history | flag edit Thank you! Very helpful... - Tosh Sep 3, 2011 flag Add Comment
So amigo mío, you answered your own question and quite well.
When I talk about sending something to someone, I use "enviar" almost exclusively.
Their meanings are very similar, and I would use them interchangeably.
Their origin is very interesting.
Enviar
I found out that enviar comes from latin invi?re, formed from the prefix in (hacia dentro, towards) and via (camino, way). So enviar means to put something on the way
Mandar
Mandar comes from latin mand?re, which in turns comes from manus (mano, hand) and dare (dar, give). Thus, mandar means to give something personally (in his/her hand) to someone either to keep it or to give it to someone else.
