I recently read an article that discussed the influence of language on the way our mind works and the way we perceive reality. I found it very interesting. Whether it is spacial orientation, gender assumptions even on inanimate objects, or even how we see colors, it appears that language changes our view and the way we think of reality.

I do not know more than a few sparce words in other languages besides Spanish and English, but what I have learned in these two have taught me a great deal about perceptions in each one.

In Spanish, you must give a gender to every object. And if there is a group of objects that are both male and female, it automatically goes male. If, for instance, there are 10 women and one man, it is “ellos” instead of “ellas” whereas in English we would simply say “them or they”. In fact, English is so “anti-gendered” speaking that we actively try to remove gender from our vocabulary. We have had whole campaigns to get rid of words that might suggest the gender such as changing from stewardess to flight attendant, or actress to a general term of actor, waitress to wait staff, etc. We even do this to the extent of improper grammar such as when referring to one person’s things we will say “their things” instead of his or her because we feel uncomfortable specifying gender.

Another thing I’ve noticed in Spanish is the use of “you plural” or “ustedes”. In English, generally speaking to say “you guys” or “y’all” is considered somewhat slang or improper. Whereas in Spanish it is completely acceptable. And it also explains why some people who know English as a second language say “yous guys”, this is to signify the plural way of talking to a group of people.

Another form I found different is the acceptance of action. For instance, in English, if an object falls from a shelf for no apparent reason, we would say “It fell”. But if we were holding it, we would feel obliged or compelled to say “I dropped it”. In Spanish, this obligation is not there and you could say “Se me cayó” which would literally be “It went and fell from me” removing the blame or fault from the person. Similarly, “Se me perdió un libro” would be “The book went and lost itself on me”. Whereas in English we would feel obliged to say “I lost the book”.  

And also, some basics in the language show us a little about the different ways of thinking of the world. In Spanish you use formal expressions -there is a distinct difference between someone older than you and someone younger -for older, or more respected people you always use “usted”. In English, these formal titles are rarely used, and in fact, we might feel slightly strange if someone calls us “Maam” or “Sir”. In American culture this is reflected in a value for egalitarianism instead of formality.

In Spanish the use of the imperfect tense is used regularly. This clarifies whether or not something happened only once or was more of a continuous thing. We do this in English, but not to the same extent and we don’t have to explicitly know this when we talk.

One of the hardest forms to understand for the English speaker learning Spanish is subjunctive.  In English, we only see this in old English Shakesperean style. One such subjunctive phrase that is still around in English is “Long Live the King”. In Spanish, subjunctive is used quite regularly for things that may or may not happen. If there is a doubt about it, subjunctive is used. This may suggest a more fluid way of thinking about reality. 

In English the phrase, “I hope that he comes so that I can meet him” would be “Espero que venga para que yo pueda conocerle” or literally “I hope that he possibly comes so that perhaps I could maybe meet him”. In English it is much more of a feeling of certainty. Subjunctive is one of the most difficult things to understand for an English speaker learning Spanish.

And finally there is the use of “estar and ser”. These also explain a different view point of the world. In English you are many things. You are your age. You are your gender. You are also your current feelings. In Spanish, you have an age. You are certain permanent things, like where you are from, your name, your gender (Soy from the verb ser). But you are other impermanent things a little differently. You are happy in the estar form if you are happy right now, or you could be permanently a happy, positive person. This is the difference between “Eres amable” (You are kind -a kind, jovial person) and “Estás alegre” (You are happy -you are currently happy).

These are just a few tips that show how our view of reality may be influenced by our mother tongue and the languages we learn thereafter.