Grafle

Script guide › Latin

Romanian vs Spanish

Romanian and Spanish sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.

The tell

Romanian's ă, ș, ț and î don't exist in Spanish; Spanish's ñ and ¿ ¡ don't exist in Romanian.

Side by side

Romanian

Toate ființele umane se nasc libere și egale în demnitate.

Bună ziua, ce mai faceți?

Apa trece, pietrele rămân.

Romanian's own tells

  • Comma-below letters ș and ț plus ă — a Romance language that looks Italian until you spot them.

On signs in:

  • Romania
  • Moldova

Full guide to recognizing Romanian →

Spanish

Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales, ¿no es cierto?

¿Cómo estás? Mañana será otro día.

¡Año nuevo, vida nueva!

Spanish's own tells

  • Look for ñ and the inverted opening marks ¿ ¡ — no other language uses them.
  • Common little words: el, la, los, y, es.

On signs in:

  • Spain
  • Mexico
  • Colombia
  • Argentina
  • Peru
  • Venezuela
  • Chile
  • Ecuador
  • Guatemala
  • Cuba
  • Bolivia
  • Dominican Republic
  • Honduras
  • Paraguay
  • El Salvador
  • Nicaragua
  • Costa Rica
  • Panama
  • Uruguay
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Puerto Rico

Full guide to recognizing Spanish →

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