Latin Influence on Spanish

Quick Answer

In this article we'll learn which features Spanish inherited from latín(Latin).

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Which aspects of Spanish were influenced by Latin?

Do all Spanish letters come from the Latin alphabet?

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Latin Influence on Spanish

Español(Spanish) is a lengua romance(Romance language) derived from latín vulgar(Vulgar Latin).

Latin had a significant influence on Spanish, especially on its gramática(grammar) and léxico(lexicon). Below we’ll analyze the main grammatical features Spanish inherited from Latin.

Latin influenced the following categories of the Spanish language:

• Alphabet

• Number

• Gender

• Adjectives

• Adverbs

• Personal Pronouns

• Verb Inflections

• Mood

• Regular and Irregular Verbs

• Prepositions

• Prefixes and Suffixes

• Lexicon

Latin Alphabet

The Spanish alphabet is based on the Latin alfabeto(alphabet). Fun Fact: The Spanish letter Ñ does not come from the Latin alphabet.

Spanish Alphabet

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N Ñ O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Number: Singular and Plural

Just like Latin, Spanish makes a distinction between two grammatical números(numbers):

• singular(singular)

• plural(plural)

Number	Example
singular	gato(cat)
plural	gatos(cats)

Read about Spanish plural noun forms in this article.

Gender: Masculine and Feminine

Spanish inherited two of the three Latin grammatical géneros(genders):

• masculino(masculine)
• femenino(feminine)

Gender	Example
masculino	gato(male cat)
femenino	gata(female cat)

The third Latin grammatical gender, neutro(neuter), was only kept in some words:

Spanish	English
ello	it
lo	it
esto	this
eso	that
aquello	that
algo	something
alguien	someone

Click here to learn more about Spanish nouns and pronouns.

Declension of Adjectives and Agreement

Unlike English adjetivos(adjectives), Spanish adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. This is a feature inherited from Latin.

Spanish	English
gato blanco	white cat
gata blanca	white cat
gatos blancos	white cats
gatas blancas	white cats

Learn more about noun and adjective agreement in this article.

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

When it comes to comparisons, Latin and Spanish adjectives have two forms:

• comparativo(comparative)
• superlativo(superlative)

Adjective	Example	English
comparativo	Ella es más alta que yo.	She’s taller than me.
superlativo	Ella es la más alta.	She’s the tallest.

Learn more about comparisons in these articles:

• Comparisons of Equality in Spanish

• Comparisons of Inequality in Spanish

• Superlative Adjectives in Spanish

Adverbs Formed from Adjectives

As well as in Latin, Spanish adverbios(adverbs) formed from adjectives are invariable. Adverbs modify verbs; therefore, they don't change according to gender and number.

Adjective	Adverb	Example	English
rápido(fast)	rápido(fast)	Mis tías hablan rápido.	My aunts talk fast.
tranquilo(calm)	tranquilamente(calmly)	Caminaba tranquilamente por la calle.	He was calmly walking down the street.

Personal Pronouns

The following are the Spanish pronombres personales(personal pronouns). The second person singular formal form usted(you) did not exist in Latin.

yo(I)	nosotros, nosotras (we)
tú(you, singular, informal), usted(you, singular, formal)	ustedes(you, plural)
él(he), ella(she)	ellos, ellas(they)

Vos, Vosotros, and Vosotras

In many parts of Latin America, vosreplaces tú as the second person singular informal form.

In Spain vosotrosand vosotrasreplace ustedes as the second person plural informal forms.

Take a closer look at the Spanish personal pronouns in this article.

Verb Inflections

In contrast with English, each person of the verb has its own inflection in both Latin and Spanish:

Personal Pronoun	Verb	English
yo	hablo	I speak
tú	hablas	you speak
vos	hablás	you speak
usted	habla	you speak
él/ ella	habla	he / she speaks
nosotros, nosotras	hablamos	we speak
ustedes	hablan	you speak
vosotros, vosotras	habláis	you speak
ellos, ellas	hablan	they speak

This feature allows Spanish to omit the personal pronoun in sentences when they're inferable. Look at the following examples:

examples
Ayer cociné tacos. I cooked tacos yesterday.
¿Viste mis llaves? Have you seen my keys?
¿De qué hablan? What are you guys talking about?

Moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative

Spanish inherited the three Latin modos verbales(verb moods):

• indicativo(indicative)
• subjunctivo(subjunctive)
• imperativo(imperative)

Spanish also inherited the following formas verbales(verb forms):

• infinitivo(infinitive)
• participio(participle, past participle)
• gerundio(gerund, present participle)

And the grammatical voices:

• voz activa(active voice)
• voz pasiva(passive voice)

Learn more about the Spanish moods and voices in these articles:

• Spanish Indicative Mood

• Spanish Subjunctive Mood

• Spanish Imperative Mood

• Active vs. Passive Voice

Regular and Irregular Verbs

The four Latin infinitive endings are:

• -āre
• -ēre
• -ere
• -īre

Spanish only has three infinitive endings, without the final -e used in Latin:

• -ar
• -er
• -ir

As well as in Latin, most Spanish verbs are regulares(regular) and follow a regular conjugación(conjugation), but there are also verbos irregulares(irregular verbs) that don't follow a pattern.

Read more about Spanish verbs in the following articles:

• -AR Verbs

• -ER Verbs

• -IR Verbs

• Irregular Verbs in Spanish

Prepositions

Latin used cases, declensions, and prepositions. Spanish only inherited the preposiciones(prepositions). Let’s see some examples:

Latin	Spanish	English
ad	hacia	toward
ante	ante	before
cum	con	with
in	en	in
inter	entre	between

Take a closer look at the Spanish prepositions in this article.

Prefixes and Suffixes

Many of the Spanish prefijos(prefixes) and sufijos(suffixes) come from Latin. Look at the following examples:

Latin	Spanish	Examples
aequi-	equi-	equivalente(equivalent)
audio-	audio-	audiolibro(audiobook)
multi-	multi-	multiplicar(multiply)
-tas	-dad	suciedad(dirtyness)
-tio	-ción	duración(duration)
-trix	-triz	actriz(actress)

Follow this link to learn more about Spanish prefixes and suffixes.

Lexicon

A large percentage of the Spanish vocabulary has Latin roots. Let's see some examples:

Latin	Spanish	English
aqua	agua	water
canīnus	canino	canine
curvus	curva	curve
domesticus	doméstico	domestic
lūx	luz	light
nomen	nombre	name
ovum	huevo	egg
porta	puerta	door
sapere	saber	to know
tempus	tiempo	time

Learn about the influences of Spanish with these articles:

• Spanish Words of African Origin

• Spanish Words of Arabic Origin

• Spanish Words of Basque Origin

• Spanish Words of Catalan Origin

• Spanish Words of French Origin

• Spanish Words of Galician Origin

• Spanish Words of Germanic Origin

• Spanish Words of Guarani Origin

• Spanish Words of Italian Origin

• Spanish Words of Japanese Origin

• Spanish Words of Mayan Origin

• Spanish Words of Nahuatl Origin

• Spanish Words of Portuguese Origin

• Spanish Words of Quechua Origin

• Spanish Words of Romani Origin

• Spanish Words of Semitic Origin

• Spanish Words of Slavic Origin

• Spanish Words of Taino Origin

• Spanish Words of Turkish Origin

• Loanwords in Spanish

• Ladino and Judeo-Spanish

• Pronunciation of English Loanwords in Spanish

• Caribbean Spanish