Your Information to the 9 Elements of Speech in Spanish With Examples

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When studying a brand new language, like Spanish, it’s good to know the fundamental components of speech that allow you to make sense of issues like phrase order (syntax) and verb conjugations (morphology). Some grammar ideas, like components of speech, can simply switch over from different languages to Spanish. So, you don’t must change into a grammar knowledgeable to study primary Spanish. However realizing these basic constructing blocks will put together you to start out studying and listening to Spanish with confidence.

What are the components of speech in Spanish?

Consider Spanish language components of speech just like the blocks that youngsters use to construct a home. They begin with a basis after which place block after block subsequent to 1 one other till they make a row. That is just like the way you assemble a sentence with the completely different components of speech. You’ve the primary block (or half) of speech, the second, and so forth—however a few of these components of speech in Spanish are interchangeable and don’t observe the principles that the identical components of speech in English do.

Earlier than we get into the nitty gritty of every a part of speech within the Spanish language, we’ll provide you with an instance that serves as an summary. Have a look at this sentence, which makes use of the entire Spanish components of speech (the English translation is under it):

• ¡Ay! El perro negro come el pollo rápidamente y lo devora en la cocina.  
• Oh! The black canine rapidly eats the rooster and devours it within the kitchen.

You’ll discover that the phrase order is barely completely different from Spanish to English. Beneath is the primary a part of the sentence in constructing block type, with every Spanish a part of speech in its personal field. 

See how the sentence is sort of a row of constructing blocks? Typically, these blocks might be extra simply rearranged in Spanish than in English, and we’ll speak about that later.

Elements of speech in Spanish chart

Utilizing the unique instance sentence above, right here’s a helpful chart that provides an summary of the components of speech in Spanish.

Sustantivos (nouns)

Many people bear in mind the “individual, place, or factor” theme from elementary faculty, however nouns are much more than that. 

They will operate as the topic of a sentence—that means the inanimate object or being doing the motion:

• La niña juega todo el día. = The woman performs all day lengthy.

They will additionally act as the thing of a verb, which implies they’re the one receiving the motion. Right here, the publish receives the affect of the automotive:

• El carro pegó al poste. = The automotive hit the publish.

Equally, they are often the thing of a preposition:

• El abuelo se sentó en su silla favorita. = The grandfather sat in his favourite chair.

Nouns may also be much more conceptual or summary:

• La belleza está en el ojo del observador. = Magnificence is within the eye of the beholder.

Be aware: Spanish is a gendered language, which implies nouns are thought of masculine or female. These Spanish gender guidelines are essential as a result of noun genders additionally must match their accompanying adjectives.

Verbos (verbs)

You in all probability have already got an concept of how verbs generally observe nouns from the examples above. Nonetheless, speaking about verbs being motion phrases could be a little deceptive. 

Typically there’s a very lively verb:

• El volcán explotó. = The volcano erupted.

But, generally the verb is extra about existence:

• Hay un volcán en Puebla, México. = There’s a volcano in Puebla, Mexico.

A verb may also have a extra submissive sense:

• Paola recibió una llamada. = Paola obtained a cellphone name.

Right here, Paola shouldn’t be precisely doing the motion. Fairly, she is on the receiving finish of an motion initiated by another person. Nonetheless, Paola is the topic of the verb.

Spanish shouldn’t be as strict as English in terms of the place the verb goes, thus the sentence from above may also be expressed like this: 

• Recibió una llamada Paola. = Paola obtained a cellphone name.

Verbs get conjugated in distinctive methods in Spanish, with every verb type having a particular ending relying on who’s talking or doing the motion. A great place to start out is by studying the most typical Spanish verbs and their conjugations.

Preposiciones (prepositions)

Prepositions assist us know the place a noun is positioned, often in a bodily method, however they’ll additionally assist us speak concerning the length of issues like historic durations. In different phrases, Spanish prepositions assist us speak about house and time in reference to a noun. Right here’s an instance:

• El conejo está dentro de la caja. = The rabbit is inside the field.

Prepositions may also be used metaphorically:

• Su mente está en las nubes. = His head is in the clouds.

As we talked about, prepositions can be utilized to speak about time:

• Durante la guerra, muchas personas quedaron sin casa. = Throughout the warfare, many individuals had been left homeless.

Adjetivos (adjectives)

Adjectives describe or modify nouns by making their nature clearer. Most adjectives in Spanish are positioned after the noun they describe, and they need to match that noun in gender and quantity. 

• un libro aburrido = a boring e-book
• unos libros aburridos = some boring books

See how the plural type of a masculine noun (often ending in “o”) has the “s” added to the noun and the adjective?

With a couple of exceptions, reminiscent of colours, it’s attainable to position adjectives earlier than the noun for emphasis:

• la bella casa = the lovely home
• las bellas casas = the lovely homes

Our checklist of 100+ adjectives and learn how to use them provides you extra particulars about adjectives.

Adverbios (adverbs)

Simply as adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs. They inform the reader or listener extra particulars concerning the motion of the sentence. 

• La tortuga cruza la calle lentamente. = The turtle crosses the road slowly.

Essentially the most frequent adjectives in Spanish usually finish in “-mente,” the equal of “-ly” in English, however not all of them do! An instance is adverbs of frequency like siempre (all the time) and nunca (by no means). 

Pronombres (pronouns)

We use pronouns on a regular basis in English as an alternative choice to names or nouns. In Spanish, they’re elective once they function the topic of a sentence, however there are 9 varieties of pronouns, most of which aren’t elective. It’s essential to study the topic pronouns in Spanish as a result of they function the premise for studying the verb conjugations. 

• (Tú) lees muy bien. = You learn very properly.

The topic pronoun is elective, however as a result of every verb will get conjugated distinctly for what is known as “viewpoint” (first individual, second individual, third individual), we are able to perceive the sentence even with out the topic pronoun in Spanish. On this method, we are able to generally take away one of many constructing blocks of our sentence in Spanish, however this isn’t advisable in case you’re constructing a home!

Lots of the different varieties of pronouns are used to point objects in a sentence. Don’t be fooled: In grammar, objects aren’t essentially issues. Fairly, they’re the objects receiving the motion.

• Renata besó a Alfonso. = Renata kissed Alfonso.

On this instance, Alfonso is on the receiving finish of the verb, and he capabilities as the thing of the sentence.

Conjunciones (conjunctions)

Conjunctions be a part of two phrases or gadgets in a sentence. There are three primary varieties of Spanish conjunctions: coordinating, correlative, and subordinating. 

Coordinating conjunctions typically unite small gadgets or phrases of a sentence:

• Me gustan las peras y las manzanas. = I like pears and apples.

Correlative conjunctions work in pairs:

• No comen trigo ni carne. = They eat neither wheat nor meat.

Subordinating conjunctions are used for dependent clauses, that means full phrases that depend upon the opposite a part of the sentence to make sense:

• Cuando te pica un zancudo, te da comezón. = When a mosquito bites you, it makes you itch.

Artículos (articles)

As in English, there are particular articles like el (the) that describe a recognized factor or individual reminiscent of el monumento de la ciudad (the town monument). There are additionally articles like un (a) that describe an unknown factor or individual reminiscent of un huracán (a hurricane). When an indefinite article is plural in Spanish—unos jitomates—it’s translated as “some tomatoes.”

With regards to particular and indefinite Spanish articles, they should match the nouns they accompany in quantity and gender. Here’s a helpful chart to assist bear in mind them:

Interjecciones (interjections)

Interjections and exclamations are simply that: They rapidly and briefly interject or exclaim one thing in a sentence. As in English, we regularly use Spanish interjections to specific shock with phrases like vaya (properly, wow), however they may also be used to point out a sudden noise. For instance, pum, which could be translated as “increase.”

As you’ll be able to see, a few of these phrases don’t translate immediately or they’ve twin meanings, one more reason why finding out with a program and never only a dictionary is essential. The subtleties of language aren’t all the time apparent from a easy web search. In enterprise and public conditions, it’s needed to know that some interjections are informal and others are extra acceptable in formal conditions. One approach to perceive these variations is with Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion methodology, which helps you study a language in context.

Key takeaways for components of speech in Spanish

There’s a variety of crossover between how the components of speech work in English and Spanish. Right here are some things to recollect concerning the components of speech in Spanish:

• Elements of speech are the constructing blocks of sentence-making and communication in Spanish.
• Spanish has 9 primary components of speech: sustantivos, verbos, preposiciones, adjetivos, pronombres, adverbios, conjunciones, artículos, and interjecciones.
• Every a part of speech in Spanish serves a selected goal and could also be used in other places inside a sentence.