Basic Sentence Syntax
What is sentence syntax? (English)
Syntax is the rules that govern how words are ordered to form sentences. English relies heavily on word order to signal meaning — moving a word changes or breaks the meaning.
English word order: SVO
The default English sentence structure is Subject → Verb → Object.
| Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|
| Maria | eats | rice. |
| The dog | bit | the man. |
| She | called | her boss. |
Changing the order changes meaning in English:
- The dog bit the man. ≠ The man bit the dog.
English SVO examples
| Sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maria eats rice. | Maria | eats | rice |
| The engineer fixed the bug. | The engineer | fixed | the bug |
| She called her boss. | She | called | her boss |
| They read the report. | They | read | the report |
| The cat chased the mouse. | The cat | chased | the mouse |
| He sent a message. | He | sent | a message |
| We deployed the update. | We | deployed | the update |
| The team approved the plan. | The team | approved | the plan |
| She opened the door. | She | opened | the door |
| I finished the task. | I | finished | the task |
How Spanish handles syntax differently
Spanish is also SVO — but more flexible
Spanish defaults to SVO, but allows more reordering because verb endings already encode who is doing the action. The verb itself tells you the subject, so moving words around doesn’t create ambiguity the same way.
| Spanish order | English equivalent |
|---|---|
| María come arroz. (SVO) | Maria eats rice. |
| Come arroz María. (VSO) | Maria eats rice. (emphasis on “eats”) |
| Arroz come María. (OVS) | Maria eats rice. (emphasis on “rice”) |
All three say the same thing in Spanish. In English, only one is natural.
Subject can be dropped (pro-drop)
Because verb endings encode the subject, the subject pronoun is often omitted.
| With subject | Without subject | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo como arroz. | Como arroz. | I eat rice. |
| Ella trabaja aquí. | Trabaja aquí. | She works here. |
| Nosotros salimos tarde. | Salimos tarde. | We leave late. |
| Ellos llegan mañana. | Llegan mañana. | They arrive tomorrow. |
| Tú hablas muy bien. | Hablas muy bien. | You speak very well. |
| Él vive en Madrid. | Vive en Madrid. | He lives in Madrid. |
| Vosotros coméis aquí. | Coméis aquí. | You all eat here. |
| Usted tiene razón. | Tiene razón. | You (formal) are right. |
| Ellas leen mucho. | Leen mucho. | They (fem) read a lot. |
| Ustedes van primero. | Van primero. | You all go first. |
Adjective placement (recap)
Unlike English, most Spanish adjectives come after the noun.
| English (adj before noun) | Spanish (adj after noun) |
|---|---|
| a big house | una casa grande |
| a red car | un coche rojo |
| a new phone | un teléfono nuevo |
| an interesting idea | una idea interesante |
| a difficult problem | un problema difícil |
| a long day | un día largo |
| a fast runner | un corredor rápido |
| a cold coffee | un café frío |
| a small city | una ciudad pequeña |
| an important meeting | una reunión importante |
Object pronouns come before the verb
English: I see him.
Spanish: Lo veo. (literally: “him I see”)
| Spanish | Word-by-word | English |
|---|---|---|
| Lo veo. | him I-see | I see him. |
| Te llamo. | you I-call | I call you. |
| La compré. | it(f) I-bought | I bought it. |
| Nos invitaron. | us they-invited | They invited us. |
| Os veo. | you(pl) I-see | I see you all. |
| Le dije la verdad. | to-him I-said the truth | I told him the truth. |
| Me conocen. | me they-know | They know me. |
| Los buscan. | them they-look-for | They look for them. |
| Las vendemos. | them(f) we-sell | We sell them. |
| Se lo entregué. | to-him it I-delivered | I delivered it to him. |
Sentences with two verbs
When a sentence has a modal + main verb, the main verb stays as an infinitive.
| Spanish | Word-by-word | English |
|---|---|---|
| Quiero comer. | I-want to-eat | I want to eat. |
| Puedo ayudarte. | I-can help-you | I can help you. |
| Tengo que salir. | I-have to to-leave | I have to leave. |
| Voy a llamar. | I-go to to-call | I’m going to call. |
| Debo estudiar. | I-should to-study | I should study. |
| Podéis venir. | you(pl)-can to-come | You all can come. |
| Soléis viajar. | you(pl)-tend to-travel | You all usually travel. |
| Prefiero esperar. | I-prefer to-wait | I prefer to wait. |
| Queremos aprender. | we-want to-learn | We want to learn. |
| Necesita trabajar. | he-needs to-work | He needs to work. |
Common mistakes
- ❌ Forcing SVO when it sounds unnatural → ✅ Spanish allows VSO for emphasis; follow what sounds natural
- ❌ Always including the subject pronoun → ✅ drop it when context is clear
- ❌ Placing adjectives before nouns (English habit) → ✅ una casa grande, not una grande casa
- ❌ Placing object pronouns after the verb → ✅ Lo veo, not
Veo lo
Summary
- Spanish defaults to SVO like English, but word order is more flexible
- Verb endings encode the subject — the pronoun is often dropped
- Adjectives go after the noun (unlike English)
- Object pronouns go before the conjugated verb
See also: Questions — how word order changes for questions.
See also: Negation — where to place no.