Spanish vs. English: Key Grammar Differences You Should Know

One of the first things you’ll notice when learning Spanish is that it doesn’t play by the same rules as English does. Word order switches around, Spanish words change more often, and even simple nouns carry either a masculine or feminine ending. For native English speakers, it takes some getting used to.

The good news? Spanish follows predictable patterns.

In this post, we’ll dig into the biggest grammar differences between Spanish and English and show you how spotting these patterns makes the language way easier to pick up — and a lot more fun to actually use. Let’s get to it!

Gendered Nouns and Agreement

Here’s one of the first surprises you’ll run into when taking on the Spanish language: every noun has a gender. In the English language, you don’t even think about this—a table is just a table. But in Spanish, nouns are either masculine or feminine. A table is la mesa (feminine), a book is el libro (masculine), and every other noun you learn will fall into one of these two categories (masculine or feminine). It might feel strange at first, but the system is reliable and gets easier the more you use it.

And it’s not just the noun you have to watch—articles and adjectives also have to change to match the noun’s gender. For example:

• El gato negro = the black cat (masculine)

• La gata negra = the black cat (feminine)

Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and use el, while most ending in -a are feminine and use la. Once you know whether a noun is el or la, the adjective follows the same pattern: el gato negro, la gata negra. Knowing this makes it much easier to put Spanish sentences together.

Adjective Placement and Word Order

In the English language, adjectives always go before the noun. We say the red flowers or the tall building without even thinking about it.

Spanish, unlike English, usually does the opposite. Most of the time, the adjective comes after the noun:

• Las flores rojas = the red flowers

• El edificio alto = the tall building

It might seem backward at first, but this is the standard pattern, and you’ll get comfortable with it quickly. There are some exceptions where adjectives come before the noun, but those are less common. For now, just focus on the main pattern—noun first, adjective after.

Verb Conjugation and Pronoun Use

In English, verbs don’t change much. We say: I speak, you speak, we speak. The word speak stays the same. To show time, we usually add helper words: I am speaking, I will speak.

Spanish works differently. Verbs change their endings to show who is doing the action. Take hablar (to speak):

• Hablo = I speak

• Hablas = you speak

• Habla = he or she speaks

Because the endings are so clear, Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns like I, you, or she. If you just say hablo, it’s already understood as “I speak.”

That’s one of the most useful parts of Spanish grammar—a single word carries more information than it does in English. The key takeaway for beginners is simple: Spanish verbs change their endings; English verbs don’t. This is just one of the many differences between the Spanish and English language. And just one you have to get used to.

Tener vs. To Be

In the English language, we use am / is / are to describe all kinds of states of being—how we feel, how old we are, or what condition we’re in:

• I am hungry.

• She is cold.

• They are 20 years old.

It’s simple and consistent. No matter the state, we still say am, is, or are.

But it’s different for Spanish speakers. Instead of describing these states as something you are, it describes them as something you have. Think of hunger, age, or sleepiness as conditions you carry with you for a time.

That’s why Spanish uses tener (to have) in these cases:

• Tengo hambre = I’m hungry (I have hunger)

• Ella tiene frío = She is cold (She has cold)

• Ellos tienen 20 años = They are 20 years old (They have 20 years)

And this pattern shows up in many everyday expressions too:

• Tengo sueño = I’m sleepy (I have sleepiness)

• Tenemos prisa = We’re in a hurry (We have hurry)

• Tienen miedo = They’re scared (They have fear)

The key difference: English uses am / is / are to talk about states of being. Spanish often uses tener (to have). 

Negation in Spanish vs. English

In English, double negatives are a no-no. If you say I don’t have nothing, a teacher will jump in and correct you: “You mean I don’t have anything.”

Spanish flips that rule. Double negatives aren’t just okay—they’re the normal way to speak:

• No tengo nada = I don’t have anything (literally: I don’t have nothing)

• No veo a nadie = I don’t see anyone (literally: I don’t see nobody)

For English speakers, this feels really odd at first. Your brain wants to “fix” it. But in Spanish, the second negative doesn’t break the sentence—it makes it correct and even stronger.

Showing Possession

In English, we show possession with an apostrophe: Maria’s book, John’s car, the dog’s toy.

Spanish doesn’t use apostrophes at all. Instead, it uses the word de (of):

• El libro de María = Maria’s book

• El coche de Juan = John’s car

• El juguete del (de + el = del) l perro = the dog’s toy (literally “the toy of the dog”)

It may look a little longer, but it’s very straightforward. No apostrophes, no special endings—just de or a variation of it every time.

English shows possession with an apostrophe, Spanish spells it out with de. Neither is better—it’s just two different ways of showing ownership.

Prepositions

Here’s another spot where the two languages don’t line up the way you’d expect: prepositions. Prepositions are the little words that connect ideas. In English, they’re usually very specific—you pick a different word depending on what you want to say:

• of → the cover of the book

• from → I’m from Kansas

• about → we talked about music

Each English preposition has its own narrow job, and you can’t usually swap one for another without it sounding wrong. Spanish works differently. Instead of many prepositions with small, specific roles, it often uses the same preposition in different ways.

Take de for example:

• El libro de María = the book of Maria

• Soy de México = I’m from Mexico

• Hablamos de música = we talked about music

Or a:

• Voy a la tienda = I’m going to the store

• Llegamos a las ocho = we arrived at eight

The key difference: English has lots of little words for different situations, while Spanish uses fewer words that do more jobs.

Capitalization and Punctuation

English and Spanish handle capitalization and punctuation differently, and learning these small rules will help you write correctly, when writing in Spanish.

In English, we capitalize a lot—days of the week, months, nationalities, and languages. In Spanish, those words stay lowercase:

• el lunes = Monday

• marzo = March

• español = Spanish

• mexicano = Mexican

There are exceptions. For example, holidays, book titles, and proper names still get capitalized:

• la Navidad = Christmas

• Don Quijote = Don Quixote

Punctuation also shifts. Spanish questions and exclamations use marks at both the beginning and the end:

• ¿Cómo estás?

• ¡Qué sorpresa!

The upside down mark(¿ ¡) might look unusual at first, but they’re actually really helpful—right off the bat, they tell you whether you’re about to read a question or an exclamation.

Spelling and Pronunciation

One thing learners usually love about Spanish is how straightforward the spelling is. In English, the same letters can trip you up with different sounds—through, though, thought. Spanish doesn’t do that. It’s consistent and phonetic: you pronounce words the way they’re written.

Here are a few basics to keep in mind:

• Every vowel has one sound, always. a = ah, e = eh, i = ee, o = oh, u = oo

• The letter h is always silent.

• Consonants like c and g follow predictable rules (c sounds like “s” before e or i, but like “k” before a, o, u).

Because these rules are so reliable, you can usually see a new word in Spanish and know how to say it right away. That takes away a lot of the guesswork English learners face when learning a new language and makes it easier to jump into conversations with more confidence.

Final Thoughts: Differences Between Spanish & English 

We’ve covered a lot of ground, and by now you can see how Spanish takes some turns that English doesn’t. Here are some of the big ones to keep in mind:

• In the Spanish language, every noun has a gender—masculine or feminine. English nouns don’t.

• Adjectives usually come after the noun in Spanish, not before like in English.

• Spanish verbs change their endings a lot more than English verbs.

• Double negatives are completely normal in Spanish. No tengo nada (literally “I don’t have nothing”) = “I don’t have anything.”

• To show possession, Spanish uses de (el libro de María) instead of an apostrophe (Maria’s book).

• Some prepositions do more than one job. (de can mean of, from, or about).

• Spanish spelling is phonetic—you pronounce words the way they’re written.

• Days and months stay lowercase, and questions/exclamations use marks at both ends (¿ ¡).

Both English and Spanish have their quirks, but that’s part of the fun. The more you embrace the differences, the more natural Spanish will start to feel.

Bridge the Gap Between English and Spanish

Grammar gives you a foundation, but progress comes when you practice it out loud. That’s where Bridge the Gap Spanish makes all the difference.

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Little by little, Spanish stops feeling like something you only study and starts becoming a language you can actually speak.

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