Sentence structure

Spanish word order is more flexible than English, but it follows predictable patterns. Understanding these patterns helps you both construct and comprehend sentences correctly.

Basic word order

The default Spanish sentence structure is Subject – Verb – Object (SVO), like English:

• María come una manzana. — María eats an apple.
• Juan lee el periódico. — Juan reads the newspaper.

However, Spanish allows more flexibility because verb endings show who is acting.

Subject pronouns: often omitted

Since verb endings indicate the subject, pronouns are frequently dropped:

With pronoun	Without pronoun	English
Yo hablo español.	Hablo español.	I speak Spanish.
Tú comes mucho.	Comes mucho.	You eat a lot.
Nosotros vivimos aquí.	Vivimos aquí.	We live here.

Use subject pronouns for:

• Emphasis: Yo trabajo, tú descansas. — I work, you rest.
• Clarity when ambiguous: Él habla vs Ella habla
• Contrast: Ella es alta, pero él es bajo. — She's tall, but he's short.

Questions

Yes/No questions

Three ways to form yes/no questions:

1. Rising intonation (most common):

• ¿Hablas español? — Do you speak Spanish?
• Simply raise your voice at the end

2. Inversion (optional):

• ¿Habla usted inglés? — Do you speak English?
• Subject after verb

3. Add a tag:

• Hablas español, ¿verdad? — You speak Spanish, right?
• Vienes mañana, ¿no? — You're coming tomorrow, aren't you?

Note: Spanish uses inverted question marks ¿ at the beginning of questions.

Question words

Spanish	English
¿Qué?	What?
¿Quién? / ¿Quiénes?	Who? (sing./pl.)
¿Cuál? / ¿Cuáles?	Which? / What?
¿Dónde?	Where?
¿Adónde?	Where to?
¿De dónde?	Where from?
¿Cuándo?	When?
¿Por qué?	Why?
¿Cómo?	How?
¿Cuánto/a?	How much?
¿Cuántos/as?	How many?

Question word + verb + subject (if stated):

• ¿Dónde está el banco? — Where is the bank?
• ¿Cuándo llega el tren? — When does the train arrive?
• ¿Por qué estudias español? — Why do you study Spanish?

Qué vs Cuál

Both can mean "what," but:

• Qué = asking for a definition or with nouns: ¿Qué es esto? (What is this?)
• Cuál = asking for a choice/selection: ¿Cuál es tu nombre? (What is your name?)

Negation

Basic negation with "no"

Place no directly before the verb:

• No hablo francés. — I don't speak French.
• No entiendo. — I don't understand.
• María no viene. — María isn't coming.

Double (and triple) negatives

Spanish requires double negatives. This is correct grammar:

• No tengo nada. — I don't have nothing. (I have nothing.)
• No veo a nadie. — I don't see nobody. (I see no one.)
• No voy nunca. — I don't go never. (I never go.)

Alternatively, the negative word can come first (without no):

• Nada tengo. — I have nothing.
• Nadie viene. — Nobody is coming.
• Nunca voy. — I never go.

Common negative words

Positive	Negative
algo (something)	nada (nothing)
alguien (someone)	nadie (nobody)
siempre (always)	nunca / jamás (never)
también (also)	tampoco (neither)
alguno (some)	ninguno (none)
o...o (either...or)	ni...ni (neither...nor)

Object pronouns

Direct object pronouns

Pronoun	Meaning
me	me
te	you (informal)
lo	him/it/you (formal m.)
la	her/it/you (formal f.)
nos	us
os	you all (informal, Spain)
los	them/you all (m.)
las	them/you all (f.)

Placement: Before the conjugated verb:

• Lo veo. — I see him/it.
• La compro. — I buy it.
• No los conozco. — I don't know them.

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun	Meaning
me	to/for me
te	to/for you
le	to/for him/her/you (formal)
nos	to/for us
os	to/for you all
les	to/for them/you all

Examples:

• Me da el libro. — He gives me the book.
• Te escribo una carta. — I write you a letter.
• Le digo la verdad. — I tell him/her the truth.

Combining pronouns

When using both indirect and direct object pronouns:

• Indirect comes first
• Le and les become se before lo/la/los/las

Full sentence	With pronouns
Doy el libro a María.	Se lo doy. (I give it to her.)
Compro flores para ti.	Te las compro. (I buy them for you.)

With infinitives and gerunds

Pronouns can attach to the end of infinitives and gerunds:

• Voy a comprarlo. or Lo voy a comprar. — I'm going to buy it.
• Estoy haciéndolo. or Lo estoy haciendo. — I'm doing it.

The personal "a"

When the direct object is a specific person (or personified thing), add a before it:

• Veo a María. — I see María.
• Llamo a mis padres. — I call my parents.
• Conozco a tu hermano. — I know your brother.

But not with things:

• Veo la casa. — I see the house. (no a)

Adjective placement

After the noun (most common)

Descriptive adjectives typically follow the noun:

• una casa grande — a big house
• un libro interesante — an interesting book
• el coche rojo — the red car

Before the noun

Some adjectives come before:

Quantity and order:

• muchos libros — many books
• primer capítulo — first chapter
• otro día — another day

Common short adjectives (often before for style):

• bueno/malo — good/bad: un buen amigo
• grande — great: un gran hombre (a great man)
• pequeño — small: una pequeña casa

Note: grande becomes gran before singular nouns and means "great" rather than "big."

Meaning changes with position

Before noun	After noun
un viejo amigo (old = long-time friend)	un amigo viejo (old = elderly friend)
un gran hombre (great man)	un hombre grande (big/tall man)
una pobre mujer (unfortunate woman)	una mujer pobre (poor = not rich)
un nuevo coche (new = different car)	un coche nuevo (new = brand new)

Commands (Imperative)

Informal commands (tú)

Affirmative: Use the él/ella form of the present tense:

• ¡Habla! — Speak!
• ¡Come! — Eat!
• ¡Escribe! — Write!

Irregular affirmative tú commands:

• ven (venir) — come
• di (decir) — say
• haz (hacer) — do/make
• pon (poner) — put
• sal (salir) — leave
• sé (ser) — be
• ten (tener) — have
• ve (ir) — go

Negative: Use no + present subjunctive:

• ¡No hables! — Don't speak!
• ¡No comas! — Don't eat!

Formal commands (usted)

Use the present subjunctive form:

• ¡Hable! — Speak! (formal)
• ¡Coma! — Eat! (formal)
• ¡No hable! — Don't speak! (formal)

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