A word order question

Question

La sabiduría es sólo una pieza del rompecabezas; el conocimiento se necesita, también.

Wisdom is only a piece of the puzzle; knowledge is needed, too.

Correction

La sabiduría sólo es sólo una pieza del rompecabezas; se necesita el conocimiento se necesita, también.

I am not sure why the correction to put "se necesita" before "el conocimiento" was made? Muchas gracias.!

Answer 1

Well I think that the best way to say your statments is the following:

La sabiduria es solamente una pieza del rompecabezas; tambien se necesita el conocimiento.

The reason of the correction is because your statement was in passive voice, but spanish usually uses active voice instead of passive. Passive voice usage is more common in Spanish cult or even legal - administrative.

I hope my explanation has been useful. I found a website that explain the difference between active voice and passive voice:

http://people.rit.edu/japnce/payne/teachers/passivevoice.html

Have a great day =)

Jeska

• Your link really helped. I have the page bookmarked for further use! Muchas gracias! - bandit51jd Feb 22, 2012

Answer 2

In Spanish word order is much more flexible than in English (or Dutch).
The (subtle) difference between both senses is a matter of emphasis. In: el conocimiento se necesita, el conocimiento is emphasized & in: se necesita el conocimiento, se necesita is emphasized. The latter is MORE what you are trying to say: besides wisdom something else is needed for the puzzle as well.

Hispanohablantes will surely go for the corrected version, as the first version sounds awkward/doesn't sound 100% Spanish.

• I was told the opposite was true: the words at the end of the sentence are emphasized. So "se necesita el conocimiento" emphasizes "el conocimiento" to contrast with "la sabiduría" - xocoyote Feb 22, 2012

Answer 3

This is how I would say it.

• ¡La sabiduría es sólo una pieza del rompecabezas, el conocimiento también es necesario! or "...el conocimiento también se necesita!"

Answer 4

Here is my attempt to explain it:

I am not sure why the correction to put "se necesita" before "el conocimiento" was made?

I think because the original English text says:

knowledge is needed, too.

It is a passive statement. Maybe your teacher wants you to use Spanish passive here. One way to make passive statement is to use "se + 3rd person verb + the object.", therefore the correction: se necesita el conocimiento tambien.

Answer 5

I was told the opposite was true: the words at the end of the clause are emphasized. So "se necesita el conocimiento" emphasizes "el conocimiento" to contrast with "la sabiduría" which begins the sentence.