Word order and other fun facts!
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A sentence (una frase) in English follows the
regular pattern of a subject + a verb
Ex: The phone rings. The students laugh.
In English, adjectives go BEFORE the noun
Ex: I see a green car. The large house is theirs.
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Similar to English, Spanish sentences place the
subject before the verb
Ex: Los estudiantes comen mucho. Yo hablo
español.
UNLIKE English, adjectives in a Spanish
sentence go AFTER the noun, not before it!
Ex: El papel blanco. La manzana roja. La casa
blanca.
* there is also the rule whereby adjectives are
spelled in a way that MATCHES the noun*
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Questions (las preguntas) in English follow the
same pattern as sentences, with the subject
coming before the verb.
Ex: Do the students speak a lot? Are the
teachers giving homework?
Notice the words DO and ARE in these two
examples, because they will be important later!
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The formation of questions in Spanish is
different than in English, because just like we
saw in the examples with adjectives, the words
SWITCH THEIR NORMAL POSITION.
Ex: Do they eat a lot? ¿Comen ellos mucho?
Ex: When are we going to the restaurant?
¿Cuándo vamos nosotros al restaurante?
When creating a question in Spanish you must
ALWAYS make them “backwards” from
english!
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Making and answering questions in Spanish
requires you to memorize the common question
words (called interrogativos) in Spanish
¿Quién? ¿Quiénes? = who or whom (plural)
¿Qué? = what
¿Dónde? = where (location)
¿Cuándo? = when
¿Por qué? = why
¿Cómo? = how
¿Adónde? = to where (destination)
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English question: Where do the students eat?
Notice the pattern: question word + subject + verb
Spanish question: ¿Dónde comen los estudiantes?
Notice the pattern: question word + verb + subject.
English question: What music does the band play?
 Spanish question: ¿Qué música toca la banda?
 Notice how the question word stays in first
position for both examples!!!
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Give the spanish question for the following:
Where are the students studying? (estudiar)
¿Dónde estudian los estudiantes?
When do you talk with your teacher (hablar)?
¿Cuándo hablas tú con tu profesora?
With whom (plural) are they
walking?(caminar)
¿Con quiénes caminan ellos?