Es mi idioma.
It's my language.
Asked about the way he speaks, he gives this short answer: it's what they speak at home, and mi idioma means his own language.
From Star Trek sin límites · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "language" in Spanish
el idioma
nounmasculineplural: los idiomas
"Language" in Spanish is el idioma. It ends in -a but it's masculine, so you say el idioma and un idioma. La lengua also means language, and it's the word in lengua materna, mother tongue.
Hear "idioma" in real movie scenes
A short answer about home and an argument between doctors. Each video starts and stops on that line.
Pero no el mismo idioma, ¿o sí?
But not the same language, right?
Two doctors argue in an office about neighboring countries that share land and diseases but not a language, and mismo takes the masculine -o to match idioma.
From Dr. House · Spanish audio
Idioma, lengua or lenguaje?
Three words that all translate as language, each with its own job.
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| el idioma | A language like Spanish or Japanese | ¿Qué idiomas hablas? (What languages do you speak?) |
| la lengua | A language, and also the tongue in your mouth | la lengua materna (mother tongue) |
| el lenguaje | A way of communicating | el lenguaje corporal (body language) |
| un idioma extranjero | A foreign language | Estudio un idioma extranjero. (I'm studying a foreign language.) |
Tip: Names of languages are masculine and written in lowercase: el español, el inglés, el japonés.
Grammar: el idioma, los idiomas
Four points for talking about the languages you speak.
Masculine with an -a
el idioma, los idiomas. It's in the same club as el problema and el tema, masculine words ending in -ma.Language names
They're masculine and lowercase: el chino, el japonés. El japonés es un idioma.Usually no article after hablar
Hablo español. ¿Hablas japonés? Add the article when the language is the subject: El español es un idioma.Stress the middle
ee-DYOH-mah. The io glides into one syllable, and the d is soft.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
El idioma español.
The Spanish language.
El japonés es un idioma.
Japanese is a language.
El español es un idioma.
Spanish is a language.
Lo siento, todavía no dominas el idioma, ¿verdad?
Sorry, you haven't mastered the language yet, have you?
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗la idioma
✓el idioma
Don't trust the -a ending here. Idioma is masculine.
✗Hablo Español
✓Hablo español
Spanish writes the names of languages in lowercase.
✗un idioma (meaning an idiom)
✓una expresión
Idioma is a whole language. A fixed phrase like an idiom is una expresión or un modismo.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
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1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 31 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Idioma looks like idiom. Picture a giant book of idioms: put all of them together and you have a whole idioma.
Questions about "language" in Spanish
How do you say language in Spanish?
El idioma or la lengua. Both name a language like Spanish or English.
Is idioma masculine or feminine?
Masculine: el idioma, los idiomas, even though it ends in -a.
What's the difference between idioma, lengua and lenguaje?
Idioma and lengua both mean a language. Lengua is also your tongue, and lenguaje is any way of communicating, as in lenguaje corporal.
Does idioma mean idiom?
No. Idioma means language. An idiom is una expresión or un modismo.
