Languages
Native
Spanish
98%
Secondary languages
Portuñol
15%
Language Samples
Hola, ¿cómo andás?
Hello, how are you?
Estoy muy bien, gracias.
I am very well, thanks.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Linguistic History
Uruguay has one of the most linguistically homogeneous populations in South America, with Spanish spoken by virtually the entire country. Its variety shares the Argentine 'voseo' — using 'vos' instead of 'tú' — and the distinctive Rioplatense intonation influenced by the Italian and Spanish immigrants who arrived in vast numbers during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Along the Brazilian border, a natural contact dialect called Portuñol (or Fronterizo) blends Spanish and Portuguese in daily conversation.
Similar Languages
Spanish (Argentina)
98%
Spanish (Colombia)
93%
Portuguese
89%
Italian
82%
Media
Montevideo seen from the Cerro — capital of one of Latin America's most literate nations
Photo: Eduardo Ruggieri · CC BY-SA 3.0
Did You Know
01
Uruguayans use 'vos' instead of 'tú', a feature called voseo shared with Argentina — the verb conjugations are slightly different from standard Spanish.
02
Uruguay has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America, consistently above 98%, reflecting a strong 19th-century public education tradition.
03
Along the 1,069 km border with Brazil, a contact language called Portuñol is spoken naturally by communities on both sides, with no single standardised form.