5 tips to understand Dominican Spanish and execute localised marketing campaigns

Last update: 28 December 2020

Landscape of Domincan Republic, a Spanish speaking counry

The country that gave birth to bachata and merengue music is also a country that adapted the Spanish language the most. Located in La Española island, Dominican Republic is, by far, the land where this language has received a wide range of remarkable changes. In terms of dialect, grammar, vocabulary and accent, we will find uniqueness across all the aspects that will not make sense in any other Spanish speaking country. But this is not a problem! It’s an opportunity to execute a more localised and engaging marketing campaign, so read the following five tips that will help you understand the language better.

A quick guide to engaging with Dominican Spanish

1. The order of sentences, as unique as the culture

2. The verb “to be” as the focal point

3. Double denial, a social representation

4. The third-person singular, quite Dominican

5. Bien chulo: DR’s most beautiful superlative

¿What is the official language in the Dominican Republic?

The official language is Spanish, with particular influence from Andalusian and Canarian Spanish. However, Dominican Republic people gather an international background that makes them happy, kind and progressive. You will find European traditions and colonial architecture, an onward American vision and also Caribbean friendliness that will make you feel at home. Get a more in-depth understanding of language tips!

1. The order of sentences, as unique as the culture

When it comes to Dominican Spanish, you will find grammar very unique, so it makes much sense to localise your content in DR. First, different to most of the Hispanic countries, the explicit mention of the subject (tú) is nearly a rule applied to the first and second person singular. Second, the order of questions and ordinary sentences often start with the subject as a prefix to the verb and predicate.

And this is how the norm works there, so it’s convenient for a call-to-action content, customised messages or email marketing to adapt the order of sentences according to the local rules. It is as simple as adding the subject explicitly into the sentence, and the effects will be way different than approaching standardised Spanish.

2. The verb “to be” as the focal point

Another valuable tip has to do with the importance that Dominican Republic people assign to the verb “to be”. It is a severe matter for them to place such a verb at the beginning of most of the sentences when having personal communications. One could tell how the culture is merged into the language by looking at rules like this one because it shows a here-and-now perception and the way people embrace their identity.

So for brands to be seen as members of the community, it becomes relevant to structure content locally. Speaking of the Dominican community, one of the most known members is a national brewery which has managed to keep a high reputation in the today’s world not just for their expertise and products, but also by their localisation strategies that portray the best of the national identity.

3. Double denial, a social representation

It might be somehow confusing, but it is not about negative vibes. The double denial in the Dominican Republic language is unique in its class and has no comparison with other countries. Initially it as a way to distinguish the first person plural from the negation, since phonetically both have the same sound because of the local accent. Nowadays, the double denial is open to different contexts beyond this rule and, at the same time, it identifies DR in other Spanish speaking countries.

However, you might want to consider the implications this double denial brings to society so that you can decide whether it matches your brand lifestyle. Locally, this practice is believed to be standard across working classes and very restricted (or almost forbidden) in upper classes. Regardless of interpretations, it is still a proper Dominican rule and might be valuable depending on your brand’s communicational attempt, so don’t rule it out.

4. The third-person singular, very Dominican

The third-person singular in Dominican Spanish has its criteria: hence why localised content is worth it for a marketing campaign. In general, it is expected as well as to mention the third person in a sentence. In Cibao, the northern region, there is even a more tailored use: instead of eso (male object) or esa (female object), people tend to use ello and ella respectively.

Although this replacement takes place in one of the three main Dominican regions, the rule of adding pronouns explicitly in sentences is not only from this country but also shared with other Caribbean countries like Puerto Rico, according to Instituto Cervantes. Consider this as an asset for regional and more targeted campaigns into the island, and it will be more likely to reach the right segment with the right words.

5. Bien chulo: DR’s most beautiful superlative

It is more like a bonus for waiting until the last paragraph. If you want to add value to your products or to recreate local situations where your product fits in, the following superlatives can make a difference in this beautiful island.

Bien chulo can be compared to the country’s national heritage: it goes beyond social status, gender, generations and other segments, whereas re and mega go behind adjectives and are commonly used within an urban context.

E.g. La comida estuvo bien chula. The food was really good.

Insightful? We’ve got five tips to improve the performance of marketing campaigns across the Dominican Republic through content localisation. Now it’s time to splice this knowledge with digital marketing and make your brand stand out in search engines and social media. Contact me and let’s work on your projects for Latin American countries.

Written by Harold Mosquera

Main image: Monika Carvajal