This article deals with the word order of constructions with an intransitive verb, a subject and an adverb in spoken Spanish. It attempts to show that word order variation is predictable. It correlates with two levels of factors that operate simultaneously. The first level includes cognitive factors some of which have grammaticalized and are now part of the morphology and syntax of Spanish: topicality of the NP referent, adverb type, and adverb function. The second level includes pragmatic-discourse factors and refers to the use of language in conversation. The analysis is based on a corpus of 20 hours of informal conversations, with a total of 32 Rioplatense speakers from La Plata, Argentina. The hypothesis is supported by 96.3% of the data.