The Order of the Subject in Spanish, Essay Example

The Spanish language adopts a flexible approach in the order of the word, with particular reference to the subject of the sentence. One of the most common sentence word orders places the subject of the sentence before the main action verb. However, the Spanish language has occurrences where the subject of the sentence appears after the action verb. This is because the parts of the sentences can usually be located at different places to suit the general desired communication. Whenever this occurs, the intended meaning and effect of the sentence changes. It is important to note the development of sentence structure in different contexts to fully comprehend the effects of adopting such structures. The objective of this paper is to analyse the position of the subject in relation to the verb and any underlying reasons for existing variations.

Location of the Subject after the Action Verb

Questions

There are certain instances where an interrogative word starts a question. These can be in the form of interrogative adverbs, interrogative pronouns or interrogative adjectives. These interrogative words can also be manipulated to perform different functions relative to how it is used in the sentence (Zagona). This pattern is also reflected in the English language when the sentences are translated. This is depicted in the sentence below:

1. “¿Cuántos fueron a casa?“

How many went home?

1. “¿Cuántas chicas se fueron a casa?“

How many girls went home?

In Spanish, cuántos acts as the interrogative pronoun in the first sentence. However, in the second sentence, it acts as the interrogative adjective. This is because the presence of the subject, the noun chicas, in the sentence changes the function of cuántos. The English translation also depicts a similar quality. In the first sentence How many is the pronoun while it acts as the adjective in the second sentence.

2. Exclamations

In Spanish there are instances when an exclamations begins with an interrogative word. These sentences adopt a format that places the verb before the subject (Zollo and Wesson). These usually adopt a structure that places the exclamatory word first, followed by the adjective, verb and subject. This can be seen in the example below:

1. ¡Qué linda es Rosa!

How beautiful Rosa is!

1. Cuántos errores cometió él!

What a lot of mistakes he made!

Qué is the exclamatory word, linda is the adjective, es is the verb, Rosa, the noun.

3. Adverb-Verb Order

Spanish has been found to always keep the adverbs close to the verbs that they modify. Normally, the noun is placed before the verb, the order can be reversed in the instance where the verb appears after the adverbial phrase or adverb.

1. Siempre hablan los niñas

The girls are always talking

In this sentence, the noun niñas is placed after the verb because the adverb Siempre comes before the verb hablan.

4. Indicating the Speaker in a Sentence

The Spanish language bears some similarities with the English language when it comes to indicating the utterer of certain words in the sentence. In the following sentences the subject of the sentence comes last after the verb of the sentence (Zagona).

1. “’Es difícil’, dijo Carlos“,

“’It is difficult’, said Carlos”.

This format is the most commonly used in the Spanish language. On the other hand this format is not commonly used in English. However, the verb can come after the subject of the sentence as depicted below; this is the most commonly used format in the English language.

1. “’Es difícil’, Carlos dij’“

“’It is difficult’ Carlos said”.

5. Verbs of Existence

In Spanish, the word haber is the verb (impressional verb) used to depict existence. It is the English equivalent to ‘there’. Whenever this impressionable and invariable verb depicts existence, they are followed by the subject.

1. Había un mujer que se llamaba Nina

There was a woman named Nina

1. Hay muchos trenes.

There are many trains.

In this case, the impressional verb there comes before the subject Nina.

6. Unusual Verbs

There are certain unusual verbs in Spanish that affect the position of the subject in the sentence. Whenever such verbs are used, the sentences adopts a structure where an indirect object comes first, followed by the verb and closing with the subject. Some of the most common unusual verbs include; doler (to cause pain), gusta (to like), faltar (to be lacking or out of) and encantar (to delight) (Zollo and Wesson). This is depicted in the sentences below:

1. Me gusta el regalo de navidad.

I like the Christmas present.

Analyzing the sentence, Me is the indirect object in the sentence, gusta is our verb of interest, el regalo de navidad is the subject of the sentence. This format is also visible in the other words listed.

1. A la impresora le falta papel.

The printer is out of paper.

• ¡Me encanta la playa!

I love the beach!

7. Emphasis

Emphasis is usually achieved in many ways in many languages. It can be achieved by intonation or word placement to highlight a particular word in the sentence. Spanish sentences tend to adopt different orders of the words especially when emphasis is placed on a given word or when a desired special effect is intended. It is important to note that it is not grammatically correct to placing a verb before the subject in a sentence. This is only done for a desired special effect.

1. Yo leo periódicos

I read neswspapers

This is the standard format for writing a sentence with the subject periódicos appearing after the verb leo. However, the order of these words can be changed to place emphasis on the subject as depicted in the sentence below with its literal translation.

1. Periódicos leo (yo)

Neswspapers I read

This emphasis is placed on the newspapers to indicate that the indirect object only reads newspapers and not novels or magazines.

8. Passive Tense

When using passive, Spanish allows for the structure of the sentence to place the verb before the subject. This I because the passive voice tends to have a similar effect to placing emphasis. This is depicted in the sentence below:

1. Se habla español aquí

Spanish is spoken here.

1. Se establecieron las escuelas hace 50 años

The schools were established 50 years ago.

In the sentence, the verb habla comes before the subject español.

9. Commands

In the Spanish language, commands adopt a structure where the verb comes first followed by the subject pronoun (Zagona). However, this subject pronoun may or may not be expressed. This is depicted in the sentence below:

1. Venga usted mañana a las siete

Come tomorrow at seven.

Pasen ustedes

Come on in.

The examples dep[icted above highlight how affirmative commands place the subject after the verb. The same concept applies to negative commands as shown below:

• No leas el libro

Don’t read the book

In conclusion, Spanish largely adopts a sentence structure that is flexible so as to achieve a different kind of effect with the final message put across. One of the most interesting facts is that it is common for the verb to be placed before the subject. While this practice is not common in English and other languages, it makes Spanish quite interesting. One of the main reasons why a verb would appear before the subject is to place emphasis on a given aspect of the sentence. While this is usually denoted by intonation in verbal communication, it may be difficult to notice in written communication. Exclamations, commands and questions all place the verb before the subject while unique word have a similar structure.

Works Cited

Zagona, Karen T. The syntax of Spanish. Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005. Print.

Zollo, Mike and Alan Wesson. Spanish grammar made easy. Oxon: Routledge, 2014. Print.