Meaning & use
native speaker
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person who has spoken a particular language since early childhood, usually as the first language they learned.
Grammar: Often followed by of: a native speaker of Spanish.
Patterns
- a native speaker of something
My teacher is a native speaker of French.
The school hires native speakers of English to run conversation classes.
As a native speaker, he knows many expressions that textbooks miss.
Word forms
| plural | native speakers |
|---|
Common combinations
- native speaker of
- She is a native speaker of Portuguese.
- fluent as a native speaker
- After years abroad, he sounds as fluent as a native speaker.
- speak like a native speaker
- Few learners speak exactly like a native speaker.
- native speaker tutor
- I booked a native speaker tutor for weekly practice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- first-language speaker
- A more neutral wording that avoids implying the language belongs to a place.
- mother-tongue speaker
- Emphasizes the language learned from one's family, and is common in some countries.
Opposites
Word family
- native adjective
- relating to the place or language you grew up with
- native language noun
- the language a person learned first
Commonly confused: native speaker or fluent speaker?
native speaker vs fluent speaker
A fluent speaker may have learned the language later; a native speaker learned it from childhood.
Practice
Maria learned Italian at home as a baby. She is a ___ of Italian.
Choose one answer.
A native speaker learned the language from early childhood. The other options describe people who learned it later.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “native speaker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.