When I am reading a Spanish sentence is it in reverse?
When I am reading a Spanish sentence I notice that there is a reverse of the language. Why is it so? It is for that reason why I am having problems writing a Spanish sentence.
3 Answers
Well, the fact is, Joanetta, Spanish speakers think that English is all backwards and screwy - so it's all a matter of perspective, don't you think?
Spanish is not quite backwards, in fact; the order of the structural elementes is different, that's all. Languages are the way they are. This is part of the learning, and something you'll have to assume and incorporate (hopefully cheerfully) if you undertake the learning of any language different from your own mother tongue.
If you compare English with almost ALL other languages in the world, you will find that actually English is backwards is relation to most others. In Spanish generally the subject goes first, then the adjectives. I.E. La señora alta, delgada y rubia. The tall and slim, blond woman. In Spanish is more important the subject we are talking about that all the qualities or modifiers of that subject. In English you mention all the qualities and modifiers before the subject you are talking about. If your conversation is interrupted, you end up with a bunch of attributes and would probably never know what or who you were actually talking about. But the bottom line is, that's the way it is, and that's the way you must learn a language.
Oh dear, if normal sentences seem backwards to you wait till you start asking complex questions! I recently had to tell a story including the line "Why does Father hide a leather coat?" In Spanish, it came out "Why hides Father a coat of leather?" 
I thought Spanish was odd until I started learning Hindi, which bears NO resemblance to English word order except that the adjective comes before the noun!
Reading helps with this, I've been reading El País online which is a Spanish newspaper, and you gradually pick up the patterns. Good luck!
