Ch 1 · Lesson 6Spanish · Chapter 1 · Lesson 6 · Grammar primer
Word order: subject, verb, object
Spanish runs subject, verb, object, like English, and usually drops the subject: hablo español, not yo hablo español.
The short version
Starting every sentence with yo reads as foreign
Veo a María.
Why?Hide
The verb ending already carries the person, so the subject pronoun is structurally redundant and normally dropped. Leading with yo every time reads the way 'I I I I' would read in English. It comes back mainly for three reasons: contrast, emphasis, and third-person ambiguity, where él, ella and usted share one verb form.
Spanish word order is Subject-Verb-Object, like English: Marta . - Marta reads the book. You already have the baseline. The work is five places where Spanish parts company with English, and each is one small rule.
| # | Rule | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drop the subject pronoun | . | I speak Spanish. |
| 2 | Pronoun before the verb | . | I see it. |
| 3 | Adjective after the noun | | the white house |
| 4 | No before the verb | . | I don't see it. |
| 5 | Questions: no do or does | ¿ ? | Do you speak Spanish? |
The SVO baseline
With no pronouns and no emphasis, the order is the English one.
| Subject | Verb | Object | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | I eat bread |
Marta | | | Marta reads the book |
| | | The children drink milk |
| | | My brother bought a house |
Each rule below changes one of these three boxes: the subject box empties, a pronoun object jumps in front of the verb, and so on.
Divergence 1: Pro-drop (subject pronouns are usually dropped)
The verb ending already says who is doing it, so the subject pronoun is usually left out. Watch the ending: it is the subject.
| Spanish | English | Who? |
|---|---|---|
| I speak Spanish | -o: I |
| you speak Spanish | -as: you () |
| he/she speaks Spanish | -a: he, she, |
| we speak Spanish | -: we |
The subject box stays empty: the ending fills it.
is not wrong, but said every time it sounds like an English speaker translating. The pronoun comes back for three jobs:
| Job | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Contrast | . | I work and you don't. |
| Emphasis | . | I did it (not someone else). |
| Who is it? | . | She speaks English. |
The third job matters because alone can mean he, she or polite you. When the context already says who, drop it there too. The subject pronouns page has the full set.
Going further: Divergence 2: Object pronouns go before the verb and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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Lesson 6 of 17 in this chapter