6. Word Order

The Spanish language is very flexible, so we can say many things arranging the words in different ways. These three sentences are totally correct: Mañana voy al cine. Voy al cine mañana. Voy mañana al cine. I go to the cinema tomorrow. But, of course, we have restrictions. Let’s see.

• In normal conversation we omit the subject pronoun simply to speak faster. Instead of: Ella tiene un perro. We generally say: Tiene un perro. She has a dog. Instead of: Yo prefiero la camisa roja. We generally say: Prefiero la camisa roja. I prefer the red shirt.
• We invert the order and put the verb at the beginning in questions and subordinate clauses: María llegó. ¿Llegó María? Creo que llegó María. María arrived. Did María arrive? I think María arrived.
• Adverbs of time and place are usually located at the end, but we are free to put them also at the beginning of the sentence. When this happens, it is mandatory to write a comma: Viajaron a Madrid por la noche. Por la noche, viajaron a Madrid. They travelled to Madrid at night. Todo es un caos en su casa. En su casa, todo es un caos. Everything is a chaos in his (or her) house.
• When using verbs of effect (gustar, encantar, etc.), we can switch the words: Me gustan los perros. Los perros me gustan. I like dogs. Me interesa mucho el jazz. El jazz me interesa mucho. I am really interested in jazz.
• We can also change the order of conditional sentences, but notice the comma: Si quieres, podemos salir. Podemos salir si quieres. If you want, we can go out. Si tuviera tiempo, iría. Iría si tuviera tiempo. If I had time, I would go.
• In negative phrases, we must place always a negative word at the beginning: No tengo tiempo. I don’t have time. Nunca tienes tiempo. You never have time. Nadie habló ese día. Nobody spoke that day. Ningún libro me interesa. I am not interested in any book. This is different in English. Compare: No hago nada. I don’t do anything. No dijo ni una palabra. She didn’t say a word.
• Unlike English, the adjective usually goes after the noun, but this is not always the case. Generally, when we have two adjectives modifying the same noun, we place one before and the other after the noun: Es una hermosa casa roja. It is a beautiful red house. But we can also say: Es una casa roja hermosa. Even when we have only one adjective, in many cases we can choose: Es una idea fantástica. Es una fantástica idea. It is a fantastic idea. Here, we can decide to emphasise one word or the other. We also have some adjectives with two different meanings according to the position: Tengo un viejo amigo. I have a friend who was my friend for a lot of time (but he is not necessarily an old person). Tengo un amigo viejo. I have an old friend (a person who is old).
• Ordinal numbers (the 1^st, the 2^nd, etc.) and the comparatives “mejor” and “peor” (better and worse or best and worst) go in front of the noun: La segunda casa es la mía. The second house is mine. El tercer coche es un Audi. The third car is an Audi. Ella es mi mejor amiga. She is my best friend. Él es el peor estudiante. He is the worst student.
• When we are using a compound verbal tense (a tense made up of two verbal forms, like “I have worked” or “I had worked”), we cannot place anything in between the two verbal forms. Compare:

Siempre he hecho esto. He hecho esto siempre. I have always done this.

Ella nunca ha aceptado. She has never accepted.

Ellos no han dicho la verdad. They haven’t said the truth.

Probablemente has entendido. You have probably understood.

• Pronouns must be located always in front of a conjugated verb: Me lo dijo María. María told me that. Te las doy, pero las necesitaré mañana. I give them to you, but I will need them tomorrow. The only exception is with the affirmative imperative: Dámelo. Give it to me. Espéralas. Wait for them.
• With the infinitive (form ending in “ar, er, ir”) or the gerund (form ending in “ando, iendo, yendo”), we put the pronoun afterwards. However, many native speakers break this rule, so both forms are considered correct:

Voy a traerte el coche. Te voy a traer el coche. I am going to bring you the car.

Quiero hacerlo. Lo quiero hacer. I want to do it.

Estoy leyéndolo. Lo estoy leyendo. I am reading it.

• The direct object can be placed in different positions, but when it is at the beginning of the sentence, it is mandatory to add a pronoun afterwards: Tomo el café sin azúcar. El café lo tomo sin azúcar. I drink coffee without sugar. Miro la película sin subtítulos. La película la miro sin subtítulos. I watch the movie without subtitles.
• The indirect object can be also placed in different positions for emphatic reasons: Le di el dinero a Carmen. A Carmen le di el dinero. I gave the money to Carmen.

And that’s it! Now, take one rule and practise. Once that you feel confident, move on to the second one, and in a couple of days they will become second nature. See you in our next blog.