La inquilina nueva habló con la dueña sobre la fianza antes de firmar el contrato.

Both are possible, but the position of the adjective slightly changes the feel.

• la inquilina nueva = the new tenant, with nueva simply identifying which tenant we mean
• la nueva inquilina = often sounds a bit more descriptive or stylistic, sometimes emphasizing that she is newly arrived

In everyday Spanish, adjectives often come after the noun, so la inquilina nueva is very natural.

Inquilina means female tenant.

Spanish often changes nouns referring to people depending on gender:

• el inquilino = the male tenant
• la inquilina = the female tenant

Because the person here is female, the sentence uses la inquilina.

Adjectives in Spanish usually agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

Here:

• inquilina is feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular: nueva

Compare:

• el inquilino nuevo
• la inquilina nueva
• los inquilinos nuevos
• las inquilinas nuevas

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

• hablo = I speak / I am speaking
• habló = he/she spoke

So:

• yo hablo = I speak
• ella habló = she spoke

The accent helps distinguish the preterite form from the present form.

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

In this sentence, the tenant spoke to the owner before signing the contract. That is seen as a finished event, so the preterite is the natural choice.

Infinitive: hablar
Preterite:

• yo hablé
• tú hablaste
• él/ella/usted habló

Because the verb hablar con means to talk with or to speak with someone.

• hablar con alguien = to speak with someone
• hablar de/sobre algo = to talk about something

So in the sentence:

• habló con la dueña = she spoke with the owner
• sobre la fianza = about the deposit

You may also hear hablar a alguien, but hablar con is much more natural when the idea is a conversation.

Dueña means female owner.

In this sentence, it refers to the woman who owns the property.
It is similar to propietaria, which is a bit more formal and precise.

• la dueña = the owner
• la propietaria = the property owner / proprietor

In housing contexts, both can work, but dueña is very common in everyday speech.

Because ñ is a separate letter in Spanish, with a different sound from n.

• n sounds like the normal English n
• ñ sounds like ny in canyon

So dueña is pronounced roughly like dwen-ya.

The ñ is not optional; changing it changes the word.

Here sobre means about.

So:

• habló con la dueña sobre la fianza = she spoke with the owner about the deposit

Yes, de is also often possible:

• habló con la dueña de la fianza

Both can mean about the deposit.
Very generally:

• sobre can sound slightly more explicit or formal for about/concerning
• de is very common in everyday speech

In Spain, la fianza usually means the security deposit paid when renting a property.

It is a very common housing term.
For example, when renting a flat, the landlord may ask for:

• un mes de fianza = one month’s deposit

So this is not just any kind of guarantee in an abstract sense; in this context it specifically refers to the rental deposit.

Because the standard structure is:

antes de + infinitive

So:

• antes de firmar = before signing

Examples:

• antes de comer = before eating
• antes de salir = before leaving
• antes de pagar = before paying

You need de before the infinitive here.

Both are possible.

• antes de firmar el contrato = before signing the contract
• antes de firmarlo = before signing it

The sentence uses el contrato because it states the noun clearly instead of replacing it with a pronoun. This is often preferred when introducing or emphasizing the thing being signed.

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English.

Here we have:

• la inquilina
• la dueña
• la fianza
• el contrato

In English, you might sometimes omit the in similar situations, but in Spanish articles are often required when talking about specific people or things already understood in context.

Not normally. The understood subject of firmar is the same as the main subject unless context suggests otherwise.

So here the natural reading is:

• La inquilina nueva habló... antes de firmar el contrato
• The new tenant spoke with the owner before she signed the contract.

If you wanted to make it clear that someone else was signing, Spanish would usually say so more explicitly.

You would change the gendered words:

• La inquilina nueva habló con la dueña... becomes
• El inquilino nuevo habló con el dueño...

So the full masculine version would be:

El inquilino nuevo habló con el dueño sobre la fianza antes de firmar el contrato.

Notice the changes:

• la → el
• inquilina → inquilino
• nueva → nuevo
• dueña → dueño

Yes, Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, though the original order is very natural.

For example, you could also say:

• La nueva inquilina habló con la dueña sobre la fianza antes de firmar el contrato.
• Antes de firmar el contrato, la inquilina nueva habló con la dueña sobre la fianza.

These versions are still correct, but the original sentence sounds straightforward and neutral.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

la een-kee-LEE-na NWEH-ba ah-BLO con la dweh-NYA SO-breh la FYAN-tha AN-tes de feer-MAR el con-TRA-to

Notes for Spain Spanish:

• z in fianza sounds like th in think
• ñ in dueña sounds like ny
• stress falls on -bló in habló

If you are learning a Latin American variety, fianza would usually sound with an s sound instead of th.