native speaker
noun
: a person who learned to speak the language of the place where he or she was born as a child rather than learning it as a foreign language
a native speaker of Swahili
That kind of mistake is rarely made by native speakers.
Examples of native speaker in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The messages, viewed by The New York Times, were all written in Russian, apparently by a native speaker well versed in vulgar slang.
—
Jenny Gross, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023
For anyone, native speaker or not, this book offers a pleasurable and humorous voyage of discovery.
—Peter Trudgill, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
Sound more like a native speaker and be confident when interacting with others.
—Stack Commerce, Popular Science, 11 May 2023
Jenny Gross, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023
For anyone, native speaker or not, this book offers a pleasurable and humorous voyage of discovery.
—Peter Trudgill, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
Sound more like a native speaker and be confident when interacting with others.
—Stack Commerce, Popular Science, 11 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'native speaker.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near native speaker
Cite this Entry
“Native speaker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/native%20speaker. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024.
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