Word order

[imfromwales]

Does the subject always come at the end of the sentece? ive seen sentences where it does and it doesnt:

por qué huelen mal el perro - it does
vivo en la casa roja - it doesnt

How would you say 'why is spain very hot' - ´por qué está muy calor españa´ or ´por qué españa muy calor´...or neither!

I think im a bit confused as when to put the subject at the end of the sentence, and how to construct gramatically correct sentences.

[greytop]

Originally Posted by imfromwales

Does the subject always come at the end of the sentece? ive seen sentences where it does and it doesnt:

por qué huelen mal el perro - it does - should be huele, singular to go with one dog - or "huelen los perros" to generalise for dogs
vivo en la casa roja - it doesnt

How would you say 'why is spain very hot' - ´por qué está muy calor - no, calor is a noun but here you need an adjective so "por qué españa esta muy caliente".
españa´ or ´por qué españa muy calor´...or neither! To use the noun you must say ".. has a lot of heat" "tiene mucho calor"

I think im a bit confused as when to put the subject at the end of the sentence, and how to construct gramatically correct sentences.

Regarding where to put the subject - it depends. For now just get used to seeing it either way and use that when you say something similar.
Poco a poco

[mightykaboosh]

Por qué es españa tan caloroso. (I think, but probably wrong).

[greytop]

Originally Posted by mightykaboosh

Por qué es españa tan caloroso. (I think, but probably wrong).

This means ... so hot? rather than ...very hot..??

[Juanjo]

Originally Posted by greytop

This means ... so hot? rather than ...very hot..??

I saw a relevant teeshirt in Sevilla with the message
"¡ JO', que calor!"

[imfromwales]

Thanks a lot greytop, im sure il learn when to stick it at the end when its time for me to learn it.

[greytop]

Originally Posted by Juanjo

I saw a relevant teeshirt in Sevilla with the message
"¡ JO', que calor!"

...and was she?

[DarrenGriz]

Originally Posted by imfromwales

Does the subject always come at the end of the sentece? ive seen sentences where it does and it doesnt

Hi,
Putting some part of a sentence first usually highlights it as being more important. Putting the subject way at the end leaves it as kind of an afterthought. Here are some variations on a simple sentence.

Juan has soup with his grandparents:

Juan toma la sopa con los abuelos. (Juan is the focus. This is normal.)

La sopa, la toma Juan con los abuelos. (Soup is what he has with his grandparents.)

Con los abuelos toma Juan la sopa. (It is with his grandparents that he has soup.)

Toma la sopa con los abuelos Juan. (Having soup with his grandparents, Juan is.) This one sounds so weird in English, but there you have it. The moral of the story is...listen for the conjugation, not the subject, to figure out who's doing what.

Darren