Someone asked above where does portuguese start and spanish end. If you listen to galego from galiza you would get that picture. I think any spanish speaker or portuguese speaker should understand that. I speak brasilian and even I understand the galego accent.
Italian & Portugese Lexical Similarities
Portuguese is closer to Spanish than to any other Romance languages in lexicon only. It's closest to French in phonology and in syntax it's obvious that it's closest to Italian.
Portuguese is closer to Spanish syntax, not Italian. Read the following sentences below for an illustration of this:
In everyday speech, it seems to me that "simple past" is used often in Spanish and Portuguese, while most dialects of Italian use "past perfect" (called "passato prossimo" in Italian)., this is what makes the syntax of Italian different from Portuguese and Spanish, apart from the different Italian vocabulary. It complicates the intelligibility of Italian for Portuguese and Spanish speakers, especially if they are not familiar with the particular grammatical way sentences are constructed in Italian.
English: Yesterday, I went to the store and bought an apple. While at the counter, I saw a boy I knew and I said hello. Then I left the store and started my apple, but it started to rain. I ran back to the store and stayed for another half hour.
Spanish: Ayer fui a la tienda y compré una manzana. Mientras yo estaba a la tienda, vi un niño que conozco y le saludé. Entonces, salí de la tienda y comience a comer la manzana, pero comenzó a llover. Corrí de vuleta a la tienda y quedé allí por una media hora más.
Portuguese: Ontem fui a loja e comprei uma maçã. Quando eu estava na loja, vi um menino que conheço e lhe cumprimentei. Então, saí da loja e começei a comer a maçã, mas começou a chover. Eu corri de volta para a loja e fiquei ali por uma meia hora mais.
Italian: Ieri sono andata al negozio e ho comprato una mela. Mentre ero al negozio, ho visto un ragazzo che conosco e l'ho salutato. Poi, ho lasciato il negozio e ho cominciato a mangiare la mela, ma ha cominciato a piovere. Sono corsa al negozio e sono rimasta lì per un'altra mezz'ora.
As you can plainly see, Portuguese and Spanish line up almost word for word. Many of the Italian words are not only different, but in a different order.
In everyday speech, it seems to me that "simple past" is used often in Spanish and Portuguese, while most dialects of Italian use "past perfect" (called "passato prossimo" in Italian)., this is what makes the syntax of Italian different from Portuguese and Spanish, apart from the different Italian vocabulary. It complicates the intelligibility of Italian for Portuguese and Spanish speakers, especially if they are not familiar with the particular grammatical way sentences are constructed in Italian.
English: Yesterday, I went to the store and bought an apple. While at the counter, I saw a boy I knew and I said hello. Then I left the store and started my apple, but it started to rain. I ran back to the store and stayed for another half hour.
Spanish: Ayer fui a la tienda y compré una manzana. Mientras yo estaba a la tienda, vi un niño que conozco y le saludé. Entonces, salí de la tienda y comience a comer la manzana, pero comenzó a llover. Corrí de vuleta a la tienda y quedé allí por una media hora más.
Portuguese: Ontem fui a loja e comprei uma maçã. Quando eu estava na loja, vi um menino que conheço e lhe cumprimentei. Então, saí da loja e começei a comer a maçã, mas começou a chover. Eu corri de volta para a loja e fiquei ali por uma meia hora mais.
Italian: Ieri sono andata al negozio e ho comprato una mela. Mentre ero al negozio, ho visto un ragazzo che conosco e l'ho salutato. Poi, ho lasciato il negozio e ho cominciato a mangiare la mela, ma ha cominciato a piovere. Sono corsa al negozio e sono rimasta lì per un'altra mezz'ora.
As you can plainly see, Portuguese and Spanish line up almost word for word. Many of the Italian words are not only different, but in a different order.
Syntax is very similar among Romance languages. Mutual intelligibility is determined by vocabulary and phonetics.
It is correct grammatically, but is not common used in Italian.
In really Italian sould be: Ieri sono andata al negozio ed ho comprato una mela. Mentre ero lì, ho visto un ragazzo che conosco e l'ho salutato. Quando ho lasciato il negozio ho mangiato la mela ed ha iniziato a piovere. Sono corsa indietro e sono rimasta lì per un'altra mezz'ora.
In really Italian sould be: Ieri sono andata al negozio ed ho comprato una mela. Mentre ero lì, ho visto un ragazzo che conosco e l'ho salutato. Quando ho lasciato il negozio ho mangiato la mela ed ha iniziato a piovere. Sono corsa indietro e sono rimasta lì per un'altra mezz'ora.
I'm a native Italian speaker, and I agree with the above posting. The Portuguese/Spanish structure of writing in the "simple past" contrasts with the Italian general usage Of "past perfect". The 'declinations' in Italian are also different from the other two. These things, and a different Italian vocabulary (closer to French), are the reasons why the many Spanish and Portuguese speakers have I spoken with say it makes Italian extra challenging to understand, both written and spoken. The above sentences by Tony show this very well.
Here in Salvador, we would say it like this:
Ontem eu fui na loja e eu comprei uma maçã. Quando eu estava na loja, eu vi um menino que conheço e eu cumprimentei ele. Então, eu saí da loja e eu começei a comer a maçã, mas começou a chover. Eu corri de volta p/ a loja e eu fiquei ali por uma meia hora mais.
Ontem eu fui na loja e eu comprei uma maçã. Quando eu estava na loja, eu vi um menino que conheço e eu cumprimentei ele. Então, eu saí da loja e eu começei a comer a maçã, mas começou a chover. Eu corri de volta p/ a loja e eu fiquei ali por uma meia hora mais.
<<It complicates the intelligibility of Italian for Portuguese and Spanish speakers, especially if they are not familiar with the particular grammatical way sentences are constructed in Italian. >>
Personally, I don't find it that particular. It's like the difference between "I have eaten" and "I ate", and if you had made a more literal translation you would have come up with something more similar, like:
Italian
Ieri sono andata al negozio e ho comprato una mela. Mentre ero al negozio, ho visto un ragazzo che conosco e l'ho salutato. Poi, ho lasciato il negozio e ho cominciato a mangiare la mela, ma ha cominciato a piovere. Sono corsa al negozio e sono rimasta lì per un'altra mezz'ora.
Portuguese
Ontem tinha ido à loja e tinha comprado uma maçã. Enquanto estava na loja, tinha visto um rapaz que conheço e o cumprimentei. Depois, tinha saído da loja e tinha começado a comer a maçã, mas tinha começado a chover. Tinha corrido para a loja e tinha permanecido ali por uma outra meia hora.
Of course you can argue that in everyday speech no Portuguese would say it like this, and you would be right, the same way no Portuguese would say it the way you did before; my point is that it doesn't make it difficult to understand.
It would probably alternate between the two verb forms instead, like:
Ontem fui à loja e comprei uma maçã. Enquanto estava na loja, vi um rapaz conhecido e cumprimentei-o. Depois, tinha eu saído da loja e começado a comer a maçã, quando começou a chover. Corri para a loja e ali permaneci por mais uma meia hora.
Again, IMHO, Italian is not that different from Portuguese, nor challenging.
What Portuguese and Spanish have more in common is vocabulary but, for instance, Portuguese is more similar to French in the "que" usage.
Personally, I don't find it that particular. It's like the difference between "I have eaten" and "I ate", and if you had made a more literal translation you would have come up with something more similar, like:
Italian
Ieri sono andata al negozio e ho comprato una mela. Mentre ero al negozio, ho visto un ragazzo che conosco e l'ho salutato. Poi, ho lasciato il negozio e ho cominciato a mangiare la mela, ma ha cominciato a piovere. Sono corsa al negozio e sono rimasta lì per un'altra mezz'ora.
Portuguese
Ontem tinha ido à loja e tinha comprado uma maçã. Enquanto estava na loja, tinha visto um rapaz que conheço e o cumprimentei. Depois, tinha saído da loja e tinha começado a comer a maçã, mas tinha começado a chover. Tinha corrido para a loja e tinha permanecido ali por uma outra meia hora.
Of course you can argue that in everyday speech no Portuguese would say it like this, and you would be right, the same way no Portuguese would say it the way you did before; my point is that it doesn't make it difficult to understand.
It would probably alternate between the two verb forms instead, like:
Ontem fui à loja e comprei uma maçã. Enquanto estava na loja, vi um rapaz conhecido e cumprimentei-o. Depois, tinha eu saído da loja e começado a comer a maçã, quando começou a chover. Corri para a loja e ali permaneci por mais uma meia hora.
Again, IMHO, Italian is not that different from Portuguese, nor challenging.
What Portuguese and Spanish have more in common is vocabulary but, for instance, Portuguese is more similar to French in the "que" usage.
<<Portuguese is more similar to French in the "que">> Makes no sense.
And Spanish doesn't use 'que'?
And Spanish doesn't use 'que'?
According to linguists and experts in the romance languages, the features that show the similarities and differences between two or more languages refer to some morphological and lexical aspects like: forming of plurals, articles, conjugation of verbs and so on. Take a look at the articles and forming of plurals in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian:
Definite articles
Spanish:
el, la, los, las
Portuguese:
o, a, os, as
Italian:
il, lo, la, l', i, gli (gl'), le
Forming of plurals:
Spanish
amigo - amigos (friend/s)
casa - casas (house/s
huevo- huevos (egg/eggs)
hombre -hombres (man/men)
Portuguese
amigo -amigos
casa - casas
ovo - ovos
homem - homens
Italian
amico - amici (ci pronounced like English ch)
casa - case
uovo -uova
uomo - uomini
Conditional mood of Cantar ( to sing) I would sing
Spanish Portuguese Italian
cantarìa cantaria canterei
cantarìas cantarias canteresti
cantarìa cantaria canterebbe
cantarìamos cantarìamos canteremmo
cantarìais cantarieis cantereste
cantarìan cantariam canterebbero
Last but not least...
Some words of common use:
(every) sp. cada - pt. cada - it. ogni
(nothing) sp. nada - pt. nada - it. niente/nulla
(something) sp. algo - pt. algo - it qualcosa
(brother) sp. hermano - pt. irmão - it. fratello
(sister) sp. hermana - pt. irmã - it. sorella
(flower) sp. comer - pt. comer - it. mangiare
(also) sp. tambien - pt. também - it. anche
(maybe) sp. talvez - pt. talvez - it. forse
(cousin) sp. primo - pt. primo - it. cugino
(head) sp. cabeza - pt. cabeça - it. testa
(leg) sp. pierna - pt. perna - it. gamba
(niece) sp. sobrina - pt. sobrinha - it. nipote
(grandson) sp. nieto - pt. neto - it. nipotino
(day) sp. dia - pt. dia - it. giorno
(cheese) sp. queso - pt. queijo - it. formaggio
(man) sp. hombre - pt. homem - it. uomo
(times) sp. veces - pt. vezes - it. volte
etc., etc., etc.
Vocabulary makes a huge difference on intelligibility for sure
Definite articles
Spanish:
el, la, los, las
Portuguese:
o, a, os, as
Italian:
il, lo, la, l', i, gli (gl'), le
Forming of plurals:
Spanish
amigo - amigos (friend/s)
casa - casas (house/s
huevo- huevos (egg/eggs)
hombre -hombres (man/men)
Portuguese
amigo -amigos
casa - casas
ovo - ovos
homem - homens
Italian
amico - amici (ci pronounced like English ch)
casa - case
uovo -uova
uomo - uomini
Conditional mood of Cantar ( to sing) I would sing
Spanish Portuguese Italian
cantarìa cantaria canterei
cantarìas cantarias canteresti
cantarìa cantaria canterebbe
cantarìamos cantarìamos canteremmo
cantarìais cantarieis cantereste
cantarìan cantariam canterebbero
Last but not least...
Some words of common use:
(every) sp. cada - pt. cada - it. ogni
(nothing) sp. nada - pt. nada - it. niente/nulla
(something) sp. algo - pt. algo - it qualcosa
(brother) sp. hermano - pt. irmão - it. fratello
(sister) sp. hermana - pt. irmã - it. sorella
(flower) sp. comer - pt. comer - it. mangiare
(also) sp. tambien - pt. também - it. anche
(maybe) sp. talvez - pt. talvez - it. forse
(cousin) sp. primo - pt. primo - it. cugino
(head) sp. cabeza - pt. cabeça - it. testa
(leg) sp. pierna - pt. perna - it. gamba
(niece) sp. sobrina - pt. sobrinha - it. nipote
(grandson) sp. nieto - pt. neto - it. nipotino
(day) sp. dia - pt. dia - it. giorno
(cheese) sp. queso - pt. queijo - it. formaggio
(man) sp. hombre - pt. homem - it. uomo
(times) sp. veces - pt. vezes - it. volte
etc., etc., etc.
Vocabulary makes a huge difference on intelligibility for sure
^No, not as much and not in the same way.
Like I said, it's much more similar (if not equal) to the French usage.
Like I said, it's much more similar (if not equal) to the French usage.
When did I say the "que" wasn't used in Spanish??
What I'm saying is that it's much more used in Portuguese...
What I'm saying is that it's much more used in Portuguese...
What I'm saying is that it's much more used in Portuguese...
Really? 1 out of 4 words in a Spanish sentence is "que".
Really? 1 out of 4 words in a Spanish sentence is "que".