El perro enterró la pelota.

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article el / la / los / las more often than in English.

So el perro means the dog, referring to a specific dog or a dog already known from context.

If you said just perro, that would usually not work as a normal subject in this kind of sentence. Spanish generally prefers an article or some other determiner here, such as:

• el perro = the dog
• un perro = a dog
• mi perro = my dog

So El perro enterró la pelota sounds natural, while Perro enterró la pelota does not.

Pelota is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the feminine singular article la.

• el = masculine singular
• la = feminine singular

So:

• el perro = the dog
• la pelota = the ball

The article has to agree with the noun’s grammatical gender, not with whether the thing is biologically male or female.

Pelota is a very common word for ball, especially a ball used for play, sport, or throwing.

Depending on context, Spanish can also use other words:

• balón often refers to a larger ball, such as a football or basketball
• bola can mean a ball or sphere in some contexts, but it is not usually the basic word for a toy or sports ball in a simple sentence like this

So in this sentence, pelota is a very natural choice.

Enterró comes from the verb enterrar, which means to bury.

Here, enterró is the preterite form for he/she/it buried.

So the structure is:

• enterrar = to bury
• enterró = buried

This tense is used for a completed action in the past. The sentence presents the burying as a finished event.

The accent mark is important because it shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• enterró = he/she/it buried
• entierro = I bury / burial, depending on context
• entierro and enterró are not the same form

In enterró, the written accent shows that the stress falls on the last syllable: en-te-RRÓ.

Without the accent, enterro would not be the correct standard spelling for this verb form.

The rr in perro is pronounced as a rolled or trilled r, stronger than the single r in many other positions.

So:

• pero = but
• perro = dog

These are different words, and the rr matters a lot.

For perro, try something like:

• PE-rro
• with a strong trill in the middle

In Spain, the final sound of perro is a normal Spanish o, and the double rr should be clearly trilled if possible.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb form already gives enough information.

In this sentence:

• enterró already tells you the subject is he/she/it in the preterite

So Spanish normally says:

• El perro enterró la pelota

and not:

• Él el perro enterró la pelota

If you used él, it would usually refer to a person, not repeat the noun el perro. Since the subject is already explicitly stated as el perro, no extra pronoun is needed.

Because la pelota is a thing, not a person.

Spanish uses the personal a before a direct object when that object is a specific person, and sometimes with pets or personified animals. But with an ordinary thing like la pelota, you do not use a.

So:

• El perro enterró la pelota = correct
• El perro enterró a la pelota = not correct in a normal literal sense

You would only get a in unusual cases, for example if la Pelota were somehow a personified character or a nickname for a person.

Yes, Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, although El perro enterró la pelota is the most neutral and natural order.

This is the basic pattern:

• subject: El perro
• verb: enterró
• direct object: la pelota

You could also hear or see variations such as:

• La pelota la enterró el perro

That changes the emphasis. It might suggest something like It was the dog that buried the ball or put special focus on la pelota.

So the original sentence is the straightforward default version.

Yes, that is also grammatical, but it does not feel exactly the same.

• El perro enterró la pelota = the dog buried the ball, seen as a completed past event
• El perro ha enterrado la pelota = the dog has buried the ball

In Spain, the pretérito perfecto with ha enterrado is often used for a past action connected to the present, especially with time expressions like:

• hoy = today
• esta mañana = this morning
• esta semana = this week

So both are possible, but enterró is the simple completed-past form.

This is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect.

• enterró = buried, as a completed action
• enterraba = was burying / used to bury

So:

• El perro enterró la pelota means the action is viewed as finished
• El perro enterraba la pelota might describe an ongoing past action, a repeated habit, or background information

For example:

• Cuando lo vi, el perro enterraba la pelota = When I saw it, the dog was burying the ball
• Cada tarde, el perro enterraba la pelota = Every afternoon, the dog used to bury the ball

Yes. Spanish often drops the subject when it is understood from context.

So you could say:

• Enterró la pelota

This means He/She/It buried the ball, depending on context.

However, if you want to make it clear that the subject is the dog, then keeping El perro is useful and natural.

Perro is the masculine form meaning dog. The feminine form is perra.

So:

• el perro = the male dog, or sometimes dog in a general/default sense
• la perra = the female dog

In many contexts, perro can be used generically unless the sex of the animal matters. Here, the sentence simply uses the masculine noun perro.