Italian vs. Spanish

[Hombre-Araña]

How do Italian and Spanish compare? I've heard the romantic languages are all very similar in vocabulary, but do they have similar sentence structure, reflexives, etc.?

[Tomisimo]

I don't know all that much about Italian, but I've heard that Spanish and Portuguese are more similar than Spanish and Italian.

[Rusty]

Italian is very similar to Spanish in some ways. But, after all is said and done, it is still a foreign language.
They have different spelling rules, phonemes, and vocabulary.
On a positive note, they have nearly identical grammar rules, as far as nouns having gender and agreement with adjectives, but the word endings are different (more complex). Verb conjugation is a little more complicated than Spanish. And, yes, they have reflexive verbs.
The passive voice is similar to the English and Spanish constructs. It looks like both Spanish and Italian try to avoid using it under similar circumstances. For your amusement, I've written a sentence in English, Spanish and Italian below. Note how the passive 'it isn't understood' appearing in the English sentence is replaced with the '(someone) doesn't understand' reflexive construct in both of the Romance languages.

English: It isn't understood if he is lying to her or to himself.
Spanish: No se entiende si él le miente a ella o a si mismo.
Italian: Non si capisce se lui sta mentendo a lei o ai suoi.

As a reading comparison aide only, substitute 'está mintiendo' where 'le miente' appears in the Spanish translation.


With some effort (and some serious study of the Italian language), you and an Italian could communicate with each other using respective tongues. In most instances, the flow of the language will make perfect sense. The real difference is the vocabulary.

[Iris]

¡Qué control Rusty! The only thing I know about Italian is that it must be a very persuasive language, because I have two friends who married Italians an incredibly short time after meeting them.
On a more serious note, I understand Italian and Portuguese only if the person in question is talking to me and not very fast, but not if there's a group of people talking. Reading is easy.

[Anna]

Yes I agree! As a teacher of English I was amazed when I first heard my Spanish students speaking Spanish to my Italian students and the Italian students answering in Italian! So, for sure, it can be done! ;-)

[María José]

Originally Posted by Anna

Yes I agree! As a teacher of English I was amazed when I first heard my Spanish students speaking Spanish to my Italian students and the Italian students answering in Italian! So, for sure, it can be done! ;-)

I would only understand an Italian if he talked to me and not too fast. I get lost when they talk to one another. It's a bit easier with Portuguese, but maybe because I used to holiday there and because Portuguese people, mainly in the hotel business, are very good at languages. Sometimes I was not consciously sure, when recalling a conversation with a receptionist or a waiter if it had taken place in Portuguese-Spanish or just Spanish with a heavy accent on his part.(Sorry I used just masculine pronouns, girls, but it was faster this way ).

[poli]

Originally Posted by Hombre-Araña

How do Italian and Spanish compare? I've heard the romantic(romance is the word, but they have been accused of being romantic too) languages are all very similar in vocabulary, but do they have similar sentence structure, reflexives, etc.?

From what I know, romance languages have similar structure. As Rusty
states, its the vocabulary that differs. Also, it's the pronunciation. Italian speakers often accent the third to the last syllable. Spanish speakers usually accent the second to the last syllable.

Poli

[Rusty]

Most Italian words are accented on the penultimate syllable, just like in Spanish. There are plenty of words, however, that look like they should be accented on the same syllable as their Spanish equivalent, but they are not. And the Italians only place an accent in the words that have an accent on the last syllable (or on homophones in order to distinguish them). The accent has to be memorized for all other words!

A Spanish speaker has an advantage over an English speaker trying to learn Italian, because they already know, or will be able to deduce, which syllable receives the accent in most of the words, especially the cognates.
For example, these pairs are accented in the same syllable:
difficile (difíchile) = difícil
possibile (posíbile) = posible
cattolico = católico
epoca = época
comodo = cómodo

Here are some Italian words that are accented on the last syllable (these are also accented on the last syllable in Spanish - note that the grave accent mark is used instead of the acute accent that is used in Spanish):
città (chitá) = ciudad
difficoltà = dificultad

One 'gotcha' for a Spanish speaker is the infinitive ending in -ere. Although most will be accented on the second-to-last syllable (and are therefore accented on the same syllable as the Spanish equivalents ending in -er), there are many unaccented exceptions that have to be learned:
vendere (véndere) = to sell
vivere (vívere) = to live
scrivere (scrívere) = to write
correre (córrere) = to run

[Alfonso]

Mamma mia, cosa habiamo fatto? Sonno venutto qui per imparare l'inglesso e io mi incontro una vera e piacevole surprisa: anche posso imparare l'italiano! Sono in accordo con Rusty, con Iris e con Poli. L'italiano è molto similare a l'spagnolo però existono un grande numero de differenzas qui lo fai difficile de dominare. E dovuto a le similitudine è veramente fácile facere male traduzione, commo questa que tu stai legendo. Ci vediamo!

[Iris]

Pero que vacilón eres...