Spanish Word Order

SVO basics, flexible subject placement, pronoun and adjective positions.

Basic word order: SVO

Subject + Verb + Object (same as English)

María come pizza. (María eats pizza.)
Yo estudio español. (I study Spanish.)
El gato bebe leche. (The cat drinks milk.)

Spanish is more flexible than English

Subject can go AFTER the verb — very common!

Llega el tren. (The train arrives.) — VS (verb-subject)
Habla María. (María speaks.)
Me gusta el café. (Coffee pleases me.) — object before verb
This is especially common with intransitive verbs and in questions.

Object pronouns: BEFORE conjugated verbs

Unlike English, pronouns go before the verb

Lo quiero. (I want it.) NOT Quiero lo
Me llama. (He calls me.) NOT Llama me
Se lo dije. (I told it to him.)

Adjective placement

Most adjectives go AFTER the noun (opposite of English)

Una casa grande. (A big house.) NOT una grande casa
Un coche rojo. (A red car.)
Exception — before noun for emphasis or changed meaning:
Un gran hombre (a great man) vs un hombre grande (a big man)

Question word order

Question word + verb + subject (inverted)

¿Dónde vive María? (Where does María live?)
¿Qué quiere usted? (What do you want?)
¿Cómo se llama tu hermano? (What's your brother's name?)

Negation placement

"No" goes right before the verb (and its pronouns)

No hablo español. | No lo quiero. | No me gusta.
Nothing can separate "no" from the verb except object pronouns.

Quick quiz

1. The basic Spanish word order is _____.

2. "I want it" = _____.

3. "A red car" = Un coche _____.

4. "Llega el tren" is _____ word order.

5. "No" goes _____ the verb.

6. "Where does María live?" = ¿Dónde _____ María?

7. "A big house" = una casa _____.

8. "He calls me" = _____ llama.

9. "I don't want it" = _____.

10. "A great man" = un _____ hombre.

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