Changing Word Order for Emphasis

Level 5

The basic order is subject, verb, object, but Galician often changes it. The new or important part goes at the end: Chegou o teu irmán (your brother has arrived).

How It Works

The basic order and the marked order

In a neutral sentence, Galician uses subject, verb, object: O teu irmán chegou onte. Speakers change this order to show what is already known and what is new. The general rule is simple: the new or most important information goes at the end.

Subject after the verb

  • The whole event is news. Chegou o teu irmán (your brother has arrived); Faltan dúas cadeiras (two chairs are missing). Verbs of arriving, appearing and lacking, and verbs like gustar, often work this way.
  • The subject is the answer or a contrast. Quen fregou os pratos? Fregounos Brais; Fíxeno eu, non a miña irmá (I did it, not my sister). A stressed pronoun at the end is the usual way to say "it was me".

The verb still agrees with the subject when the subject comes after it: Chegaron os teus irmáns.

A known topic first

You can start with something already under discussion. When that topic is a definite direct object, a pronoun repeats it inside the verb: Este libro regaloumo o meu avó (my grandfather gave me this book), where regaloumo is regaloume + o. See topic fronting with a pronoun. Both steps can happen at once: in Iso díxomo ela, iso is the topic and ela at the end is the new information.

Pronouns stay where the verb puts them

A subject before the verb does not pull an unstressed pronoun forward, so you say Eu fíxeno, not Eu o fixen. Words like xa, negatives and indefinite subjects are what move it before the verb: A túa nai xa a coñezo.

Other tools for emphasis

For a stronger highlight, use a cleft sentence such as Foi ela quen mo dixo. In speech, a topic can also be added after the sentence: see right dislocation.

Examples (6)

  1. Chegou o teu irmán.

    Your brother has arrived.

    Word by Word: Arrived the your brother.

    The subject goes after the verb because the whole event is news.

  2. Iso díxomo ela.

    She is the one who told me that.

    Word by Word: That told-me-it she.

    Iso is the known topic, repeated by o inside díxomo (díxome + o); ela comes last because it is the new information.

  3. Fíxeno eu, non a miña irmá.

    I did it, not my sister.

    The stressed pronoun eu goes at the end to contrast it with someone else.

  4. Faltan dúas cadeiras.

    Two chairs are missing.

    With faltar the subject naturally follows the verb, and the verb agrees with it: faltan.

  5. Este libro regaloumo o meu avó.

    My grandfather gave me this book.

    Este libro is the topic and is repeated by o in regaloumo; the giver, o meu avó, is the new information.

  6. A túa nai xa a coñezo.

    Your mother, I already know her.

    The fronted object is repeated by the pronoun a, which goes before the verb because of xa.

Common Mistakes

  • Fronting a known definite direct object as a topic without repeating it with a pronoun.

    Ese libro deixei na mesa.
    Ese libro deixeino na mesa.

    When a definite object moves to the front as a topic, a pronoun (o, a, os, as) must repeat it inside the verb.

  • Leaving the verb in the singular when a plural subject follows it.

    Chegou os teus irmáns.
    Chegaron os teus irmáns.

    A subject after the verb is still the subject, so the verb must agree with it.

  • Putting the pronoun before the verb just because a subject comes first.

    Eu o fixen.
    Fíxeno eu.

    A subject before the verb does not trigger proclisis (Eu fíxeno). To stress who did it, put eu at the end.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Changing Word Order for EmphasisLevel 5

Learn This First

Marked order distinguishes a known topic from new or contrasted information.