9.2 Sentence word order

The elements in an English statement typically go in the order:

Subject + verb + object + adverb

Subject	Verb	Object	Adverb
Dogs	eat	bones.
The students	take	their exams	in June.
All the children	have gone		to the swimming pool.
We	are going to leave	work	early.
The Smiths	bought	a new fridge	yesterday.
Jane	opened	the door	carefully.

Many adverbs of time can also go at the beginning of the sentence, e.g.:

In June the students take their exams.
(En el mes de junio los estudiantes hacen los exámenes.)

Yesterday the Smiths bought a new fridge.
(Ayer los Smith compraron un nuevo frigorífico.)

When there are two adverbial expressions, one of place and one of time, they tend to go in the order:

place, time

They went to Paris last Friday.
(Fueron a París el viernes pasado.)
(Not: ~~They went last Friday to Paris~~.)

Are you planning to go abroad next summer?
(¿Pensáis ir al extranjero en verano?)

The children play in the garden until supper time.
(Los niños juegan en el jardín hasta la hora de cenar.)

Here are examples of the word order in some Spanish sentences which is not found in English.

Más tarde llegaron mis primos.
(My cousins arrived later. Or: Later my cousins arrived.)
(Not: ~~Later arrived my cousins.)~~

El director habla a menudo con nosotros.
(The director often speaks to us.)
(Not: ~~The director speaks often to us~~.) See mid-position for more details.

Toca muy bien el piano.
(She plays the piano very well.)
(Not: ~~She plays very well the piano~~.)

Mantened limpia la ciudad.
(Keep the city clean.)
(Not: ~~Keep clean the city~~.)

For word order in questions, see main verbs and auxiliary verbs and see also inversion.