1. By Number of Native Speakers:
* Mandarin Chinese: With roughly 939 million native speakers, Mandarin is often considered the most spoken language.
* Hindi: With approximately 602 million native speakers, Hindi is the second most spoken language, often spoken alongside Urdu in India.
* English: With roughly 379 million native speakers, English comes in third. However, it has the largest number of speakers overall due to its status as a global language.
Caveats:
* Dialects: Many languages have several distinct dialects that can be considered separate languages by some. This makes it difficult to accurately count speakers.
* Second language: While English has a large number of native speakers, it's also the most widely learned second language globally. This can make it seem more prominent than languages with larger native speaker counts.
2. By Number of Total Speakers (Native + Non-Native):
* English: Due to its global reach and widespread use as a second language, English likely has the highest number of total speakers.
* Mandarin Chinese: With a large number of native speakers and its growing international importance, Mandarin likely has a significant number of second language learners as well.
* Hindi: Similar to Mandarin, Hindi's large native speaker base and regional importance likely contribute to a significant number of non-native speakers.
3. By Influence and Impact:
* English: English's dominance in media, science, business, and technology makes it arguably the most influential language in the world.
* Mandarin Chinese: China's economic and political power is increasing Mandarin's global reach and influence.
* Spanish: As the most spoken language in Latin America, Spanish is gaining influence in the Americas and globally.
Ultimately, there is no single "top three" list. The best answer depends on the criteria you use to measure language prominence.