In this blog, I will attempt to point out some tips that you can use as a general guide. Do not follow them religiously, as there are always exceptions to the rules. But hopefully this will help, overall.
In case I start using "parts of speech" vocabulary that you could really use a refresher on before beginning, refer to: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/definitions.htm
A few simple rules:
- A sentence that is a declaration or statement (not a question) will typically follow the same structural order as English: Subject + Verb
She walks. Ella camina.
You add objects right after the verb.
She walks the dog. Ella camina el perro.
- A sentence that is a question will now have some changes: Verb + Subject
Does she walk? ¿Camina ella?
And when you start adding objects, or recipients of the action, you start to have a little more flexibility or possible change in the word order:
Does she walk the dog? ¿Camina ella el perro? OR ¿Camina el perro ella?
In the first example, the subject is right after the verb. In the second example, the subject now comes after the object. That can seem confusing that it works more than one way, but the important thing to remember is that, in either case, the subject comes AFTER the verb. So aim for that.
- Adjectives Adding adjectives to a sentence complicates your life slightly. But it shouldn't be too bad. Generally speaking, when you have a noun and adjective right together, use this order: Noun + Adjective
the fat dog = el perro gordo
If the noun and adjective are separated by a verb, those would follow the word order from the first posted rule: Subject + Verb + Adjective
The dog is fat. El perro es gordo.
Of course, just as soon as you learn this rule of "noun before adjective," you will see it broken. This rule is generally used for more descriptive adjectives. There are other adjectives, that provide different purposes:
this hat = este sombrero
three hats = tres sombreros
(both the words "this" and "three" are adjectives)
Here is a helpful link that goes into much more detail about adjectives and word order:
http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/whereadjective.htm
While this is not a complete synopsis on Spanish sentence structure, it does provide a start in the process for beginning students. If you didn't get enough detail in this blog, or just want some reinforcement, here are a couple of other sites, including a wiki and another blog, that can help:
http://easiestspanish.blogspot.com/2007/08/bienvenidos-using-visualization-tricks.html
http://www.lingolex.com/spanishbasic.htm
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish/Word_Order
http://spanish.about.com/library/beginning/bl-beg-sentences-word_order.htm
