Editing Spanish grammar (section)

{{Short description|Grammar of the Spanish language}}
{{Spanish language}}
[[Spanish language|Spanish]] is a grammatically [[Inflection|inflected]] language, which means that many words are modified ("marked") in small ways, usually at the end, according to their changing functions. [[Verbs]] are marked for [[Grammatical tense|tense]], [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]], [[Grammatical mood|mood]], [[Grammatical person|person]], and [[Grammatical number|number]] (resulting in up to fifty [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugated]] forms per verb).  [[Nouns]] follow a two-[[Grammatical gender|gender]] system and are marked for [[Grammatical number|number]]. [[Personal pronoun]]s are inflected for [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical gender|gender]] (including a residual neuter), and a very reduced [[Grammatical case|case]] system; the Spanish pronominal system represents a simplification of the ancestral Latin system.

[[Image:Antonio de Nebrija Introductiones latinae 1550.jpg|thumb|130px|right|Frontispiece of the Grammatica Nebrissensis]]
Spanish was the first of the European vernaculars to have a grammar treatise, ''{{lang|es|[[Gramática de la lengua castellana]]}}'', published in 1492 by the [[Andalusia]]n philologist [[Antonio de Nebrija]] and presented to Queen [[Isabella I of Castile|Isabella of Castile]] at [[Salamanca]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kamen |first=Henry |title=Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492–1763 |date=2003 |publisher=HarperCollins |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref>

The {{lang|es|[[Real Academia Española]]}} (RAE, Royal Spanish Academy) traditionally dictates the [[linguistic prescription|normative]] rules of the [[Spanish language]], as well as its [[Spanish orthography|orthography]].

Differences between formal varieties of [[Peninsular Spanish|Peninsular]] and [[Spanish language in the Americas|American Spanish]] are remarkably few, and someone who has learned the language in one area will generally have no difficulties of communication in the other; however, pronunciation does vary, as well as grammar and vocabulary.

Recently published comprehensive Spanish reference grammars in English include {{Harvcoltxt|DeBruyne|1996}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Butt|Benjamin|2011}}, and {{Harvcoltxt|Batchelor|San José|2010}}.