What are some important Spanish grammar rules?

Question

As I learn more Spanish vocabulary words I am finding it easier to be able to read Spanish and understand the general idea of what I am reading. However, I find it difficult to write in Spanish becuase the grammar rules in Spanish seem to be so different from the grammar rules in English. Are there any Spanish grammar rules I should know that could make putting sentences together in Spanish easier for me? Thank you in advance!

I struggle with Spanish grammar, too. I can write English well, but actually taking English grammar in school was not my strength. - danrivera, Jun 27, 2011

So, although I can tell you what they are, direct objects and indirect objects and stuff like that do not come naturally to me. - danrivera, Jun 27, 2011

It is very confusing. I guess practice will make perfect! - jorden365, Jun 27, 2011

Answer 1

The number or rules that you need to make proper sentences would be shockingly discouraging, even for a native Spanish speaker, since they didn't learnt to speak with grammatical rules. You need to learn step by step, and read a lot, listen to a lot of Spanish before you get a feeling for it. It is not just a matter of grabbing a bunch or rules and start making proper sentences. You need to learn how we think, our culture, our expressions... There is no short cut.

If I remember correctly, a sentence that contains an indirect object must have an indirect object pronoun.

"Da dinero a los pobres" is a perfect sentence, so your "rule" is void right away.

That is very true. I have been reading a lot of Spanish children's books becuase they have simple vocabulary I can understand to try to get a feel for Spanish sentence structure. Thank you for the advice! - jorden365, Jun 27, 2011

Answer 2

If I remember correctly, a sentence that contains an indirect object must have an indirect object pronoun.

Example:

I gave Lisa the ball.

"Le di la pelota a Lisa." o "Le di la pelota."