How to Say "mother tongue" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “mother tongue” is “lengua” — A1 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
Examples
¿Cuántas lenguas extranjeras hablas?
How many foreign languages do you speak?
El español es una lengua muy extendida en el mundo.
Spanish is a very widespread language in the world.
Su lengua materna es el italiano, pero vive en Francia.
His mother tongue is Italian, but he lives in France.
Lengua vs. Idioma
While both mean 'language,' 'idioma' is sometimes preferred for political or institutional language systems, while 'lengua' can refer to the physical organ or the general concept of communication. In most daily use, they are interchangeable.
Mixing up Gender
Mistake: “El lengua”
Correction: La lengua. Remember that 'lengua' is a feminine word, even though it refers to something that sounds like it could be masculine (like 'el idioma').
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