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Provided by the Academic Center for Excellence 1 A Quick Guide to Spanish Syntax
A Quick Guide to Spanish Syntax
Syntax is the order of words and phrases that create a sentence. This quick guide will discuss the word pattern for basic Spanish sentences. This order, however, is flexible, which will be demonstrated later in this handout. Because sentences have many elements, such as pronouns, subjects, and verbs, please refer to the following key as you progress through this guide:
S = subject V = verb n = negation A = auxillary
O = object I = infinitive form of the verb p = preposition PP = present progressive
IN = interrogative d = direct object pronoun i = indirect object pronoun
Syntax and One-Verb Sentence Constructions Spanish word order follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) pattern. Spanish word order is very similar to English word order, as English also follows SVO pattern. The sentence’s subject is the “doer” of the action; the verb is the action, and the object is the person or thing affected by the action. In addition, when a negation (n) is necessary, the negative is placed before the verb. While English typically adds an auxiliary verb (A), such as a conjugation of to be or to do, to a negation, Spanish does not.
SVO Pattern Examples: Positive: English Spanish Maria reads the books. S V O
Maria lee los libros. S V O
Negative: English Spanish Eduardo does not eat meat. S A n V O
Eduardo no come el carne. S n V O
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Often, the subject in Spanish is implied by the verb conjugation. Positive: English Spanish I have the money. S V O
Tengo el dinero. S/V O
Negative: English Spanish We did not speak last night. S A n V O
No hablamos anoche. n S/V O
Two-Verb Constructions Sometimes, two verbs are needed to express an action. In English, for instance, the first verb is conjugated to agree with the subject, and the second verb is left in its infinitive form (I); that is, the verb will remain in its “to” + verb form. For example, “to eat” is the infinitive verb that is conjugated to agree with the person who eats, i.e. I eat, you eat, she eats, etc. The same rule of syntax applies to Spanish. When using two verbs, the first verb will be conjugated to match the subject, and the second verb will remain in the infinitive. In addition, the negation will continue to be placed before the first verb.
Two-Verb Construction Examples: Positive: English Spanish I need to shop for jeans. S V I O
Necesito comprar para los jeans. S/V I O
Negative: English Spanish They are not able to see the stars. S A n V I O
Ellos no pueden ver las estrellas. S n V I O
There are two common exceptions to this syntax rule. First, if the purpose of the sentence is to imply that a person or thing must perform an action, as in “I have to go to the store,” then the
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Interrogatives Interrogatives are questions. In general, when asking questions in Spanish, the order of the subject and the verb are reversed. This is similar to English. Also, like English, a question in Spanish may include an interrogative word (IN), such as qué , por qu é, cuándo , cuánto , cuál , cómo , and dónde.
Example: English Spanish When is Carlos coming to the party? IN V S PP p O
¿Cuándo viene Carlos a la fiesta? IN V S p O
Questions in Spanish may also be posed without an interrogative word. Sometimes, the subject is implied with the verb conjugation. However, at other times, the subject needs to be expressed for clarity.
Examples: English Spanish Do you teach on Saturdays? A S V p O
¿Eseñas los sabados? S/V O English Spanish Do all of you want a drink? A S V O
¿Desean ustedes una bebida? V S O
Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns Direct object nouns and pronouns are the person or thing directly affected by the verb in the sentence. For example, in the sentence “Josh washed the car,” to find the direct object (d) of the sentence, ask a question that includes both the subject and the verb: “What did Josh wash?” The answer is “the car”; therefore, “the car” is the direct object. In Spanish, the direct object functions the same way; however, when a direct object refers to a person, a group of people, or a pet, the personal “a” must be included.
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Example: English Spanish Ayla bathed the dog. S V d
Ayla bañó al perro. S V d English Spanish I bought the gift. S V d
Compré el regalo. S/V d
Indirect object nouns and pronouns tell to whom or for whom an action is performed. In Spanish, an indirect object (i) is often signaled by the prepositions a or para before the indirect object.
Example: English Spanish I bought the gift for Isa. S V d p i
Compré el regalo para Isa. S/V d p i
Direct and indirect object pronouns can be used to replace the corresponding nouns in the sentence to avoid repeating them when speaking or writing. In Spanish, when using both a direct and an indirect object pronoun in a sentence, the indirect object pronoun will always precede the direct object pronoun. In addition, when both the indirect object pronoun and the direct object pronoun are in the third person, whether singular or plural, the indirect object pronoun must be changed from le or les to se.
One-Verb Constructions: Object pronouns precede the verb in a sentence that consists of only one verb. Example: English (without pronouns) Spanish (without pronouns) I bought the gift for Isa. S V d p i
Compré el regalo para Isa. S/V d p i English (with pronouns) Spanish (with pronouns) I bought it for her. S V d p i
Se lo compré. i d S/V
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show the syllabic change to the verb. If both an indirect and direct object pronoun are needed, the indirect object pronoun will be placed before the direct object pronoun. Affirmative Command Example: English Spanish Talk to them. V p i
Hábleles. V i
If the command is a negative command, then the object pronouns must be placed between the negation and the verb.
Negative Command Example: English Spanish Do not talk to them. A n V p i
No les hable. n i V
For more information about Spanish commands, please refer to the Academic Center for Excellence Spanish: Commands helpful handout located on our website at https://www.germanna.edu/academic-center-for-excellence/helpful-handouts/
Verbs like Gustar There are , do not follow the traditional SVO pattern; gustar is one of these verbs. Gustar is a verb that is used to express likes and dislikes in Spanish. However, it is not used in the same way as the English verb to like. Instead, gustar translates more accurately as to be pleasing ( to someone ), which means that the subject of the sentence is the person or thing that is liked. Because of this, the verb gustar is conjugated to correspond with the number of people or things being liked. In addition, the indirect object pronoun shows to whom the person or thing is pleasing. Lastly, if a negation is needed, place the object pronouns between the negation and conjugated form of the verb.
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Examples: English Spanish I like the flower. S V d
Me gusta la flor. i V S English Spanish I do not like the flowers. S A n V d
No me gustan las flores. n i V S
Other verbs that function like gustar include but are not limited to: encantar to delight or like very much importer to be important or to matter quedar to remain or have left faltar to lack or be lacking interesar to interest or to be interesting parecer to appear or to seem molestar to annoy, to irritate, or to bother resultar to result or to turn out
