Main clauses are usually declarative. They usually have direct word order: subject + verb + object:

Ana tiene dos animales.

Ana has two animals.

Luis come muchos plátanos.

Luis eats a lot of bananas.

 

However, there are some cases where inverted word order is common, i.e. the sentence begins with an element other than the subject. Examples of such cases are:

• Emphasis of the subject:

Lo pago yo.

I’ll pay for it.

• An introductory structure used to indicate that something exists, something is moving, something is visible, audible, being born, missing, or remaining:

Existen muchos animales.

There are many animals.

Faltan/quedan seis lápices.

Six pencils are missing/remaining.

• Exclamations that begin with the words qué, cómo or cuánto:

¡Qué rica es esta comida!

How delicious this food is!

• The sentence contains a so-called dative verb:

Me gustan las manzanas.

I like apples.

Te interesan las matemáticas.

You are interested in mathematics.

 

Remember that in Spanish, you don’t have to use e.g. a pronoun to express the subject, because you can see the subject of the sentence directly from the verb form:

Yo vivo en Barcelona. _ Vivo en Barcelona.

I live in Barcelona.

 

In a negative sentence the negation no is placed before the verb:

El chico no está en el parque.

The boy is not in the park.

Nosotros no hemos estudiado mucho.

We haven’t studied a lot.

 

Remember that in Spanish, adjectives are usually placed after the noun:

Ana tiene dos animales pequeños.

Ana has two small animals.

 

Adverbs and other expressions describing time and place can be placed quite freely. Their placement can influence what is emphasised in the sentence. The usual and neutral word order is subject + verb + object + place + time:

Luis come muchos plátanos en casa hoy.

Luis eats a lot of bananas at home today.

You can also place e.g. a time expression at the beginning of a sentence if you want to emphasise it:

Hoy Luis come muchos plátanos en casa.

Today Luis eats a lot of bananas at home.

 

Note, however, that you cannot put anything between the different parts of the verb (e.g. in the present perfect and past perfect):

Todavía no hemos estudiado mucho.

or

No hemos estudiado mucho todavía.

We haven’t studied a lot yet.