Spanish vs Portuguese: How to Choose Between Spanish and Portuguese

How to decide which one to learn, Spanish or Portuguese? Both are Romance languages with millions of speakers worldwide, and honestly, they're way more similar than you might think. The two languages share about 89% lexical similarity, which means if you learn one, you're already making some progress toward understanding the other. But there are some real differences in pronunciation, grammar, and how useful each one might be for your goals. Let's break down what actually matters when choosing between these two.

Why compare Spanish and Portuguese in the first place

Here's the thing: Spanish and Portuguese both come from Latin, just like French and Italian. They evolved side by side on the Iberian Peninsula for centuries, so they kept a ton of similarities. If you're an English speaker looking at Romance language options, these two are probably on your shortlist.

Spanish has around 500 million native speakers globally, making it the second most spoken language by native speakers after Mandarin. Portuguese clocks in at about 260 million native speakers, with the majority living in Brazil. That's still a massive number of people you could potentially communicate with.

The real question most learners ask: which one should I actually spend my time on? The answer depends on where you want to travel, what career opportunities you're chasing, and honestly, which culture resonates with you more.

Spanish vs Portuguese pronunciation differences

This is where things get interesting. Pronunciation is probably the biggest difference between Spanish and Portuguese, and it's what makes mutual intelligibility tricky, even though the vocabulary overlaps so much.

A Spanish speaker can usually read Portuguese text and understand maybe 60-70% of it. But listening comprehension? That drops to like 30-40% for most people. Portuguese speakers generally have an easier time understanding spoken Spanish because Spanish pronunciation is more straightforward.

The "lh" and "nh" sounds in Portuguese (Like in "filho" or "vinho") are similar to Spanish "ll" and "ñ", but Portuguese has way more nasal vowels. Words ending in "-ão" or containing "õe" have that distinctive nasal quality that Spanish just doesn't have.

Grammar and verb complexity

Both languages have pretty complex verb systems compared to English, but they're structured similarly enough that learning one helps with the other.

Spanish has around 14-16 verb tenses depending on how you count them. Portuguese has roughly the same number. Both use the subjunctive mood extensively, which trips up English speakers who aren't used to expressing doubt, desire, or hypothetical situations with special verb forms.

One cool difference: Portuguese uses the personal infinitive, which is this weird construction where infinitive verbs can be conjugated for different subjects. Spanish doesn't do this at all. For example, in Portuguese you might say "É importante estudarmos" (It's important for us to study), where the infinitive "estudar" gets conjugated with "-mos" for "we."

The future tense works differently too. In everyday speech, Brazilian Portuguese rarely uses the simple future tense. Instead, people say "vou fazer" (I'm going to do) rather than "farei" (I will do). Spanish speakers use both constructions pretty regularly.

Portuguese also kept the pluperfect indicative tense in regular use, especially in European Portuguese. Spanish has it too, but it sounds super formal and old-fashioned. Most Spanish speakers would use the compound form instead.

Vocabulary differences: Cognates and false friends

This is where Spanish and Portuguese really shine for learners. The vocabulary overlap is huge. If you know one language, you can often guess words in the other.

Some words are identical or nearly identical: "importante" (Important), "diferente" (Different), "possível/posible" (Possible), "família/familia" (Family). The spelling might change slightly, but you'd recognize them instantly.

Then you've got false friends, which are always fun. "Embarazada" in Spanish means pregnant, but "embaraçada" in Portuguese means embarrassed. A Spanish word like "exquisito" means exquisite or delicious, but in Portuguese "esquisito" means weird or strange. These trip people up all the time.

Portuguese uses different words for some everyday concepts. A Spanish speaker says "pero" for "but," while a Portuguese speaker says "mas." The Spanish word "muy" (Very) becomes "muito" in Portuguese. Small differences, but they add up.

One interesting pattern: Portuguese often kept older Latin words that Spanish replaced. The Portuguese word for breakfast is "pequeno-almoço" in Portugal (Literally "small lunch"), while Spanish uses "desayuno." In Brazil, they say "café da manhã" (Morning coffee), which is totally different from both.

Can you understand Portuguese if you speak Spanish

Short answer: sort of, but it's complicated.

Reading comprehension between the two languages is pretty good. A Spanish speaker can pick up a Portuguese newspaper and get the general idea of most articles. The sentence structure is similar enough, and the cognates carry you through.

Listening comprehension is way harder. I've watched Spanish speakers try to follow Portuguese conversations, and they usually catch maybe 30-40% on first exposure. The pronunciation differences are just too significant. All those reduced vowels and nasal sounds in Portuguese make it tough for Spanish speakers to parse where words begin and end.

Portuguese speakers generally have an easier time understanding Spanish, both written and spoken. This is because Spanish pronunciation is more conservative and clear. Portuguese speakers are used to vowel reduction in their own language, so the consistent vowels in Spanish actually make it easier to follow.

With some exposure, mutual intelligibility improves a lot. A Spanish speaker who spends a few weeks in Portugal or Brazil will start picking up way more. The grammar knowledge transfers directly, so once your ear adjusts to the pronunciation, comprehension jumps pretty quickly.

Is Portuguese closer to Spanish or Italian

Definitely Spanish. Portuguese and Spanish share that 89% lexical similarity I mentioned earlier. Portuguese and Italian are also similar since they're both Romance languages, but the overlap is more like 80%.

That said, some people think Portuguese phonology sounds a bit like Italian because of the vowel-heavy sound in Brazilian Portuguese. But structurally and lexically, Spanish is definitely the closer relative.

Which is more useful to learn: Spanish or Portuguese

This depends entirely on your goals, but let's look at the practical factors.

Learning difficulty and time investment

Both Spanish and Portuguese are considered Category I languages for English speakers by the Foreign Service Institute, meaning they're among the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. The FSI estimates about 600-750 classroom hours to reach professional working proficiency in either language.

Should you learn both languages

Honestly? If you've got the time and interest, learning Spanish and Portuguese together is pretty awesome. The overlap means you're not doubling your workload. You're more like adding 40-50% more work to get a second language.

The trick is to get solid in one language first. Get to at least a B1 or B2 level in Spanish, then start adding Portuguese. Or vice versa. This way you've got a strong foundation and you're less likely to mix them up.

Some learners do study them simultaneously, especially if they're using both languages regularly for work or have connections to both cultures. It's doable, but you need to be really organized about keeping them separate in your practice.

The mutual intelligibility means you can leverage your knowledge. Once you speak Spanish well, you can often understand Portuguese in context even before you study it formally. Then when you do start learning Portuguese, you're just refining and correcting rather than building from scratch.

If you're going to learn either Spanish or Portuguese through immersion with native content, Migaku's browser extension and app make it way easier to look up words on the fly while watching shows or reading articles. You can build your vocabulary naturally from stuff you actually care about. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.

Portuguese or Spanish, that is the question...

At the end of the day, pick the language that matches your actual life goals. Don't just choose based on which is "easier", "more useful", or swayed to much by similarities and differences. Both languages open up amazing literature, music, films, and cultures. Both will challenge you and reward you.

It's up to you to make the choice work!