Spanish sentences structure

The way you structure a sentence in Spanish is essential to understanding Spanish speakers and one of the main Spanish lessons you need to understand. Therefore, learning the Spanish sentence’s structure is one of the most important keys to mastering the language.

Spanish syntax can vary slightly between languages, which can be confusing for Spanish learners. So, in this donQuijote article you will find a short guide on how to construct correct and natural sentences in Spanish, as well as practical examples.

You can change the language in this post from here to Spanish, Italian, French or Dutch.

What is Spanish syntax?

Spanish syntax is the way we organize words to form sentences in Spanish. This structure has several forms, and, in this guide, you will find an explanation of each one and several examples.

However, before you start building Spanish sentences, you need to know the verb tenses, since the verb is a fundamental part of every sentence. The Spanish verb not only indicates the action, but also informs about the time (past, present or future), the mood (indicative, subjunctive or imperative) and the number (singular or plural).

Spanish verbs are classified into three endings: -ar, -er and -ir. Depending on the infinitive of the verb, it will be conjugated in one way or another. You have all the information in this post about verb tenses in Spanish.

It is essential to conjugate verbs perfectly, so that the sentence makes sense. In these examples, you can see how the action changes and who performs it:

• Yo como una manzana (I eat an apple) (Present tense)
• Ellos comieron una manzana (They ate an apple) (Past tense)
• Nosotros comeremos una manzana (We will eat an apple) (Future)

Spanish sentence construction

Here is the easiest way to structure sentences in Spanish:

Basic structure: subject + verb + predicate

The simplest Spanish sentence structure is subject, verb and predicate. This means that, first you must identify who is doing the action (sujeto), what the subject does (verbo); and everything that is said about the subject in the sentence (predicado). This is the most basic outline of a sentence in Spanish.

In a common sentence, the predicate includes the action of the verb and additional information related to it. Therefore, the predicate always contains the verb and the different complements.

For example:

• Juan come una manzana (Juan eats an apple): “Juan” is the subject; “come” the verb; and “come una manzana”, the predicate.
• María lee un libro (Maria reads a book): “Maria” is the subject; “lee” is the verb; and “lee un libro”, the predicate.

Although within the predicate you can find more specific terms such as the complement. Thus, the complement is any word or group of words that completes or adds information to the verb.

Complements are part of the predicate and say more about the verb or action. Thus, the sentences above could be broken down into:

“Juan come una manzana”:

• Subject: who is doing the action -> Juan
• Verb: what he is doing -> come
• Complement: about what or to whom the action is being performed -> una manzana

“María lee un libro”:

• Subject -> María
• Verb -> lee
• Complement -> un libro

The subject can be omitted in Spanish

In Spanish it is not always necessary to mention the subject in the sentence. This is because verbs are conjugated in such a way that the subject can be inferred. The omission of the subject is different from languages such as English, where it must always be mentioned.

For example: “Yo leo todos los días” → “Leo todos los días” (I read every day)

Both sentences are correct, but in the second one we do not need to say “yo” because the verb “leer” already indicates that it is the first-person singular (“leo”). The subject can be omitted in Spanish when it is clear who performs the action.

The order of the sentences is flexible

As you have seen, Spanish is a relatively flexible language in terms of word order compared to other languages. Therefore, the order of the subject, verb or complement can often vary, but the sentence has the same meaning.

However, although you can vary the order, it is important not to alter the structure too much when you are beginning to learn Spanish as changing the order can change the meaning or make the sentence difficult to understand.

Example:

• “Los invitados entraron en el salón”
• “Entraron los invitados en el salón”
• “En el salón entraron los invitados”

The three options in the previous sentence (The guests entered the salon) have the same meaning. However, depending on the order, the emphasis falls on “los invitados” (the guests), on the action of the verb “entrar” (entered) or “en el salón” (the salon).

Affirmations, negations and questions in Spanish

As in any language, in Spanish you will also find a sentence structure for negation or questions. Affirmative sentences have the above-mentioned structure (subject, verb and predicate). While in negative sentences you only must add “no” before the verb.

Examples:

• “Me gusta comer manzanas” (I like to eat apples)
• “No me gusta comer manzanas” (I don't like to eat apples)

It is also necessary to mention that, in Spanish, there is a double negation in the same sentence. This means that, in the same sentence, two negative words can be added. Example: “No como ninguna manzana” (I don't eat any apples) or “No leo libros en ninguna occasion” (I don't read books on any occasion).

As for questions, in Spanish they can be formed in several ways. The simplest is to add question marks (¿?) to the affirmative phrase. Example: “¿Te gusta comer manzanas?” (Do you like to eat apples?)

Another option is to put the verb in front: “¿Comes manzanas normalmente?” (Do you usually eat apples?) And the last way is to add a word that assures that you are asking a question such as “no”, “verdad” or “si”. For example: “Te gusta leer por las noches, ¿verdad?” (You like to read at night, don't you?).

In this quick guide you have been able to see how sentences are structured in Spanish, but you need to keep practicing, reading and writing in Spanish to better understand sentence formation.

Constant exposure to sentence structure will help you assimilate Spanish syntax naturally, so taking a Spanish course in Spain is an ideal way to internalize it all. Don't hesitate any longer and start your Spanish adventure with donQuijote in any of our schools, we are waiting for you!