Sentence of the Day - beber & ella
No bebe cerveza, sólo bebe vino.
She doesn't drink beer, only wine.
In the example sentence, could you add ella for clarification? Also, is it necessary to add the verb bebe twice?
3 Answers
Ella no bebe cerveza, sino vino.
She does not drink beer, but wine.
It meets the guidelines: "Ella" is added, and "beber" is only used once. This will do if you are just comparing her preference of beer to that of wine. In the unlikely case that wine is the only refreshment she drinks, then I don't see any other option to express that than to use "beber" at least twice.
Adding ella depends on the context. But either for clarification or for emphasis it can always be added.
No, you don't have to repeat the verb. "No bebe cerveza, sólo vino." is just fine.
In the example sentence, could you add ella for clarification?
To clarify what? I've read your sentence in English and I have no clue what do you mean by "she". Martha? Rosie? My mother? You just don't wake up in the morning and tell the first person you come across: "She likes beer". They wouldn't understand who is "she" without a context! Here, "she" clarifies the sex of a person we know nothing about and can't even identify. Not very useful.
Now an example of context.
Peter: What is your favourite drink?
Jack: I like beer when it is hot and wine with meals. And you?
Peter: More or less the same. What about your sister?
At this stage, it is clear who is "she". At this stage, in Spanish it is absolutely unnecessary to say "ella", since it is clear from the context who are we talking about. This is a real conversation, where the absence of pronoun makes sense. A sentence created out of thin air, like yours, makes no sense with or without "she", because we don't know whom you are talking about anyway.
You see, in real life, you don't say "she" without having previously provided the necessary context for "she" to make sense. Since "she" cannot be used without that context, omitting it causes no confusion whatsoever in Spanish (or other thousands of languages).
