📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 11 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 3 · La frase cuidada
El orden de las palabras
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 11 of 30: Spanish word order is freer than English but not free. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
el orden de las palabras
the word order
ehl OHR-dehn deh lahs pah-LAH-brahs
eso no lo sabía
that I did not know
EH-soh noh loh sah-BEE-ah
lo más pesado al final
the heaviest last
loh mahs peh-SAH-doh ahl fee-NAHL
anteponer
to put in front
ahn-teh-poh-NEHR
posponer
to put after
pohs-poh-NEHR
el sujeto
the subject (of a verb)
ehl soo-HEH-toh
el complemento
the object phrase
ehl kohm-pleh-MEHN-toh
colocar
to place
koh-loh-KAR
yo coloco el sujeto al final
I place the subject at the end
yoh koh-LOH-koh ehl soo-HEH-toh ahl fee-NAHL
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Spanish word order is freer than English but not free. The habit: known before new, short before long, and the heaviest element last. Le dio a su hermano el viejo reloj de su padre — not el viejo reloj de su padre a su hermano.
Y también · And also
Moving a word to the front is how Spanish stresses it: Eso no lo sabía. Mañana no vengo. The fronted object drags its pronoun with it (eso no LO sabía) — leave the pronoun out and the sentence is wrong, not merely flat.
Ojo · Watch out
A fronted direct object repeats as a pronoun: eso no LO sabía, a Juan no LO conozco. Leave out the lo and the sentence breaks. And after apenas, the subject follows the verb: apenas llegó el tren.
colocar, presente — the table
yo coloco · tú colocas · él/ella/usted coloca · nosotros colocamos · ustedes colocan · ellos/ellas colocan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el orden de las palabras.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out colocar, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.