Transcript Sentence Structure in Spanish

Sentence
Structure in
Spanish
Grade 7 Spanish
Señora de Flores
Word Order in Spanish
Sentences
• The order words are put in in
Spanish sentences can be confusing,
but it is really more flexible than
English.
• The chart below shows examples of
some common ways of ordering
words. Note that in many sentences
the subject can be omitted if it can
be understood from the context.
Type
Order
Example
Comment
Statement
Subject, verb Roberto estudia.
(Robert is
studying.)
This word order is extremely common
and can be considered the norm.
Statement
Subject,
verb,
object
Roberto compró el
libro. (Robert
bought the book.)
This word order is extremely common
and can be considered the norm.
Statement
Subject,
object
pronoun,
verb
Roberto lo compró.
(Roberto bought it.)
This word order is extremely common
and can be considered the norm.
Object pronouns precede
conjugated verbs; they can be
attached at the end of infinitives
and present participles.
Question
Question
word,
verb,
subject
¿Dónde está el libro?
(Where is the
book?)
This word order is extremely common
and can be considered the norm.
Exclamati
on
Exclamatory word,
adjective, verb, subject
¡Qué linda es Roberta!
(How beautiful Roberta is!)
This word order is
extremely common
and can be
considered the
norm. Many
exclamations omit
one or more of these
sentence parts.
Statement
Verb, noun
Sufren los niños. (The
children are suffering.)
Placing the verb
ahead of the noun
can have the effect
of placing more
emphasis on the
verb. In the sample
sentence, the
emphasis is more on
the suffering than
who is suffering.
Statement
Object,
El libro lo escribió Juan. (John
verb, noun wrote the book.)
Placing the object at the
beginning of the sentence
can have the effect of
placing more emphasis on
the object. In the sample
sentence, the emphasis is
on what was written, not
who wrote it. The pronoun
lo, although redundant, is
customary in this
sentence construction.
Statement
Adverb,
Siempre hablan los niños. (The
verb, noun children are always talking.)
In general, Spanish
adverbs are kept close to
the verbs they modify. If
an adverb starts a
sentence, the verb
frequently follows
Phrase
Noun,
adjective
la casa azul y cara (the expensive
blue house)
Descriptive adjectives, especially
ones that describe something
objectively, usually are placed after
the nouns they modify.
Phrase
Adjective,
noun
Otras casas (other houses); mi
querida amiga (my dear friend)
Adjectives of number and other
nondescriptive adjectives usually
precede the noun. Often, so do
adjectives being used to describe
something subjectively, such as to
impart an emotional quality to it.
Phrase
Preposition,
noun
en la caja (in the box)
Note that Spanish sentences can
never end in a preposition, as is
commonly done in English.
Comma
nd
Verb,
subject
pronoun
Estudia tú. (Study.)
Pronouns are often unnecessary in
commands; when used, they nearly
always immediately follow the verb.
Select the correct
translation
1. The cat is big and black.
a.
b.
c.
d.
El gato es grande y negro.
El negro gato y grande.
El miau miau gordo negro.
No comprendo.
Select the correct
translation
2. I have two blue pencils.
a. Yo tener dos azul lapiz.
b. Yo tengo dos azul lapiz.
c. Yo tengo dos lapices azules.
Select the correct
translation
3. Julio talks in class every day.
a. Julio hablar en la clase cada dia.
b. Julio hable en la clase cada dia.
c. Julio hablas en la clase cada dia.
d. Julio habla en la clase cada dia.
Select the correct
translation
4. Crystal and I go to dance rehearsal.
a. Crystal y yo ir al ensayo de baile.
b. Crystal y yo voy al ensayo de
baile.
c. Crystal y yo vais al ensayo de
baile.
d. Crystal y yo vamos al ensayo de
baile.
Select the correct
translation
5. Davin is tall and intelligent.
a. Davin esta alto y inteligente.
b. Davin es alto y inteligente.
c. Davin esta alto e inteligente.
d. Davin es alto e inteligente.
Resources
• http://spanish.about.com/od/sentenc
estructure/a/word-order-inspanish.htm