Sometimes Putting the Verb Before the Subject

Thank You Liss,

for the above , still find it confusing but I'm working on it  but my next question is.

Estuve muy triste cuando murió mi perro.  (Mi perro murió ) 

Why does murió go before my dog and on some other books i have read murió goes after my dog.

i have seen this on many different occasions. What's the secret?

Thanks  

¡Hola VR143!

(I've split your new question into its own thread, so that it's easier for other users to find! If you have any more questions about using definite articles, or would like me to explain that any further, please don't hesitate to post again on the other thread!)

Spanish word order is generally more flexible than English word order, and so sentences like these where the subject and the verb can switch positions are fairly common. 

In your example, both cuando mi perro murió and cuando murió mi perro are grammatically correct, and they both come down to the same meaning: “when my dog died.” It's just that in clauses that begin with an adverb like cuando “when,” native Spanish speakers sometimes like to put the verb first, so that it sits next to the adverb. It's basically just a stylistic change.

This kind of subtle change is a generally a mark of an advanced Spanish speaker, as it's something that you naturally get a feel for over time with a lot of Spanish exposure. So while it's always a good idea to be open to word order differences like these ones, it's not something that you have to worry about actively working into your Spanish as you're learning.

I hope that this answer is helpful! Do let me know if you have any more questions.

Saludos,

Liss

Please note: this discussion continues on another thread.

Hi,

this sentence during the subjunctive 

le escandaliza que los niños te mientan 

Just want to check could i have said

le escandaliza que te mientan los niños

and also , le escandaliza, could i have used está escandalizado de que 

And also le escandaliza , i found escandalizarse, so would i say se escandaliza.

thank you and for your previous replies.

¡Hola VR143!

I've divided my answers up into sections below, to help make them easier to read!

1. Word order
Both Le escandaliza que los niños te mientan and Le escandaliza que te mientan los niños are perfectly fine, and would mean "(It) shocks him / her that the children lie to you." The only tiny difference between them might be that in the second version, there is a little more emphasis on the lying as the shocking part (i.e. "(It) shocks him / her that the children lie to you" as opposed to "(It) shocks him / her that the children lie to you") because it comes directly after que "that." This difference is subtle, however, and the meaning stays the same.

2. ESCANDALIZAR vs. ESCANDALIZADO
It's perfectly fine to use escandalizado and say either Está escandalizado de que los niños te mientan or Está escandalizado de que te mientan los niños for "(He) is shocked that the children lie to you."

3. ESCANDALIZAR vs. ESCANDALIZARSE
Yes, you can also say Se escandaliza de que los niños te mientan or Se escandaliza de que te mientan los niños for "(He / she) is shocked that the children lie to you."

You can see the subtle differences in these options from the English translations: 

• using le escandaliza que means "(it) shocks him / her that," 
• using está escandalizado de que means "he is shocked that," and
• using se escandaliza de que means "he / she is shocked that."

I hope that this is helpful!

Saludos,

Liss