El niño hizo una bola de papel.

Because hacer is irregular in the preterite.

The preterite forms are:

• yo hice
• tú hiciste
• él/ella/usted hizo
• nosotros hicimos
• vosotros hicisteis
• ellos/ellas/ustedes hicieron

So hizo means he/she made. It does not follow the regular -er pattern.

A very common mistake is hacíó or hacío, but those forms are incorrect.

Because in standard Spanish spelling, hizo does not need one.

It is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable: HI-zo. Since it naturally follows normal stress rules, no written accent is required.

This is useful to compare with forms like niño, which also do not need a written accent because the stress already falls where Spanish spelling rules predict.

Hizo is the preterite, the Spanish tense used for a completed action in the past.

So El niño hizo una bola de papel presents the action as a finished event: the boy made a paper ball.

Spanish often uses:

• preterite for completed actions
• imperfect for ongoing, habitual, or background actions

Here, the sentence describes one completed action, so the preterite is the natural choice.

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with a noun: el niño = the boy.

Unlike English, Spanish usually does not omit the article in a simple sentence like this. Saying just Niño hizo una bola de papel would sound wrong in normal standard Spanish.

So:

• el niño = the boy
• un niño = a boy

Because bola is a feminine noun.

In Spanish, articles must agree with the noun:

• masculine singular: un / el
• feminine singular: una / la

So:

• una bola
• la bola

Even though the object itself is not biologically female, grammatical gender still applies.

De papel means made of paper or paper in the sense of material.

So una bola de papel is literally a ball of paper, often understood in English as a paper ball.

Spanish very often uses de + material:

• una mesa de madera = a wooden table / a table made of wood
• una cuchara de metal = a metal spoon
• una bolsa de plástico = a plastic bag

Because de papel describes the material, not a specific piece of paper.

• de papel = made of paper / paper
• del papel = of the paper, referring to some specific paper already known in context

In this sentence, the meaning is general: it was a ball made out of paper. So de papel is the correct choice.

Sometimes, but not always.

Bola is a general word for a round shape or lump, and in this sentence it works very naturally for something like a crumpled paper ball.

Pelota usually refers more to a ball used for play or sports, like a tennis ball or football.

So for a ball of paper, bola de papel is more natural than pelota de papel.

The ñ is pronounced like the ny sound in English canyon.

So niño sounds roughly like NEE-nyo.

Important points:

• n and ñ are different letters in Spanish
• niño = boy
• nino would be a different spelling and is not the same word

The little mark over the ñ is called a tilde, and it changes the sound.

The h is silent in Spanish, so hizo is pronounced as if it began with i.

In Spain, z is usually pronounced with a th sound, so hizo sounds roughly like EE-tho.

In much of Latin America, z is pronounced like s, so it sounds more like EE-so.

Since you asked about Spanish from Spain, the Spain pronunciation is the one to expect: EE-tho.

Yes, but this is the most neutral and natural order.

Standard Spanish word order is often: subject + verb + object

So:

• El niño = subject
• hizo = verb
• una bola de papel = object

You could change the order in some contexts, for example:

• Una bola de papel hizo el niño

But that sounds marked or literary, and not the normal neutral way to say it. For learners, subject + verb + object is the best default.

Yes. The verb hacer can mean both to do and to make, depending on context.

Examples:

• Hizo la tarea = He did the homework
• Hizo una bola de papel = He made a paper ball

In this sentence, made is the natural meaning because the object is something created or formed.

Because the personal a is only used before a direct object that is a specific person (or sometimes a pet/personified being).

Here, una bola de papel is a thing, not a person, so there is no a.

Compare:

• Veo al niño = I see the boy
• Veo una bola de papel = I see a paper ball

So El niño hizo una bola de papel correctly has no personal a.

Yes. Depending on context, niño can mean:

• boy
• child
• kid

If the meaning has already been given to the learner, then in this sentence it is probably best understood as the boy. But in another context, it could be more general.

The feminine form is niña.

Yes, it is a very natural expression for a ball made by crumpling paper.

For example:

• Tiró una bola de papel a la papelera = He threw a paper ball into the wastebasket.

So this is not an unusual or overly literal phrase. It is a normal way to say it in Spanish.