This textbook is intended to present a broad view of Spanish syntax, one which takes into account the results of recent research, but which does not focus on theoretical discussion, nor assume familiarity with current theory. In order to describe insights based on recent research, it is of course necessary to introduce enough theoretical machinery so that the approaches that have been explored are understandable. Earlier discussions, especially Chapters 2 and 3, are framed within the assumptions of the Principles and Parameters framework as developed in Chomsky (1981, 1986). Chapters 4 and 5 introduce some basic elements of the Minimalist framework of Chomsky (1993, 1995). That discussion is largely informal, and rather than providing a comprehensive introduction to the theory, it is intended to give just enough background to allow the reader to understand the lines of investigation that have been pursued in accounting for such issues as clause structure and constituent order.

Chapter 1 presents a descriptive overview of the grammar, combining many generalizations of a traditional nature with some generalizations that arise within generative grammar. This description is intended to include both those generalizations that would be of particular interest to students of Spanish linguistics, and information of a broader nature for readers who are not Spanish specialists. Chapter 2 focuses on the Noun Phrase (NP). In the course of the discussion, basic theoretical mechanisms of the Principles and Parameters framework, such as Theta-role assignment, Case assignment and Predication are introduced, in order to account for the external distribution of NP.