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-   -   Verb/subject placement (http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=10481)

wafflestomp March 10, 2011 06:47 PM

Verb/subject placement
 
Hey,

So i have seen a lot of sentences like this lately where the verb comes befor the subject

Ten cuidado, viene un coche

And I know that for certain sentences like "what did he say" it's always "¿Qué dijo él?" but I don't know why.

Is there a specific rule for this or what?

Rusty March 10, 2011 07:32 PM

It doesn't matter much what order is used. The only 'difference' I hear is an emphasis shift. The meaning doesn't change.

Look here. It's in Spanish.

Cloudgazer March 10, 2011 08:36 PM

¡Gracias, Rusty! Es un buenísimo recurso.

wafflestomp March 11, 2011 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty (Post 107331)
It doesn't matter much what order is used. The only 'difference' I hear is an emphasis shift. The meaning doesn't change.

Look here. It's in Spanish.

Thanks for the link. A question the link can't answer, is one way or the other more natural for some sayings? Like the dijo expressions?

Rusty March 11, 2011 07:37 PM

It seems much more natural to ask, "¿Qué dijo él?"
But, when you're not using the interrogative, it's more natural to say, "Él dijo."

That said, I often reverse subject and verb when using decir with a noun (instead of a pronoun). I learned to say it that way in Central America. The internet tends to agree with me.
'Dijo el profesor que' gets a lot more hits than 'el profesor dijo que'.


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