how to know sentence structure
In what ways does a sentence that is written in Spanish differ in sentence structure from a sentence that is written in English? English has sentence structures that remain the same all the time, is it the same for Spanish? What are their sentence structures?
3 Answers
There is a textbook that I use to teach Spanish vocabulary and sentence structure. It's "Panorama" and it has 15 lessons of over 30 pages each. That 450 pages. Sentence structure entails conjugation of verbs, placement of adjectives, the variable location of subject and object, the placement of direct object and indirect object pronouns, reflexive pronuns, and did I mention conjugation of verbs--we have three kinds of verbs in Spanish. Each kind has six form in each tense
There are five simple tenses in the indicative mood, plus four more compound tenses. In the subjunctive mood there is one present tense form, two past forms, and two compound forms in present day use. There are more, but not in current use.
And you want us to tell you in what ways the Spanish sentence structure differs from English? Hoo ha! I can't do that. The book "Panorama Indroducción a la lengua española" in various editions is available on Amazon.com
I was born in Spain. Spanish and French were my only languages for many years, but I still had to put in five years of university study in Spanish to get my teaching degree. I thought I knew Spanish until I got to the university. I found that I still had much to learn. Many of my Latino students where I now teach are going through the same shock that I did.
Buena suerte.
Keziah, one difference is that in English, the word order determines the function of the words and the meaning. Example: Raul found the girls - Raul is the subject, the girls are the object. If you change the places of those words - The girls found Raul - "the girls" is now the subject and "Raul" is the object. The words are exactly the same, but the position of the words completely changed the meaning.
In Spanish, the word order doesn't matter so much. To use the above example:
"Raul encontró las niñas" ("Raul found the girls") - Raul = subject and "las niñas" = object.
If you swap around Raul and niñas - "las niñas encontró Raul" - (though it sounds funny) the sentence means the same thing, and the word functions have not changed. The verb ending tells you which word is the subject and which is the object.
I know there's a lot more to learn about it, but I hope this helps.
I suggest you use Notes in Spanish. They do free podcasts from beginner to very advanced. You can pay for worksheets which are useful but every now and again they have a sale which is the time to buy.
I also rate Mi Vida Loca an interactive video from the BBC.
If you read posts by native Spanish speakers in English they often use the Spanish structure as we often do in reverse.
However, most of the native Spanish speakers here who use English have a good level.
For example we often omit that in sentences Spanish don't.
Try reading you will get the feel for sentences. Post here on for example word of the day. You can try out a structure and see how it is corrected.
Many writers write articles for papers like El Pais especially at the weekend. Try reading one looking at the structure eg Elvira Lindo, Rosa Montero, Lorenzo Silva and Antonio Muñoz Molina.
Twitter can also be useful but often abbreviations are used.
Find a blog that interests you.
I don't know your level and whether you could try reading a book. I do read books in Spanish but if you want to work out structures articles are more manageable.
I have noticed that Spanish writers use much longer sentences than are generally used in English.
NB most sites selling ebooks will let you download a chapter or two for free as a sample. Check the site for ideas and try a chapter. Read it out loud.
