why not say it this way?

Question

Esta fiesta sólo se celebra una vez al año

why not

se celebra esta fiesta sólo una vez al año

this reads like we would say in English

today's word la serenata

Mis tíos se pusieron a bailar durante la serenata.

My aunt and uncle danced during the serenade.

reads straight forward

glynj01, please use standard punctuation and capitalization. There are people here trying to learn the conventions of written English. - AnnRon, Feb 27, 2017

Answer 1

Esta fiesta sólo se celebra una vez al año
why not
se celebra esta fiesta sólo una vez al año
this reads like we would say in English

I disagree with you about how we would say it in English. To my ear, it sounds more natural with the subject first.

This holiday is celebrated only once per year.

As opposed to with the verb first.

Is celebrated this holiday only once per year.

I do agree that the sólo seems oddly placed in Esta fiesta sólo se celebra una vez al año. I find that in both languages, people are less precise than they might be with this. Note the different meanings of these sentences:

Only I went to Europe with my son.
I only went to Europe with my son.
I went only to Europe with my son.
I went to Europe only with my son.
I went to Europe with my only son.

:) - rac1, Feb 27, 2017

Answer 2

Hello Glyn,

Welcome to our SpanishDict community forum

You asked:

why not say it this way? Esta fiesta sólo se celebra una vez al año why not se celebra esta fiesta sólo una vez al año. this reads like we would say in English today's word la serenata Mis tíos se pusieron a bailar durante la serenata. My aunt and uncle danced during the serenade. reads straight fo

The Spanish language allows for a degree of flexibility in the word order

The order of the words in the sentence below changes the emphasis but does not change the overall meaning:

Todos los días Juan se levanta a las siete de la mañana (emphasis: Todos los días = every day)

Juan se levanta a las siete de la mañana todos los días. (emphasis: Juan se levanta a las siete = Juan gets up at seven)

The overall meaning in both sentences remains the same although the emphasis in each one changes.

I agree with Oshnaj that the sentence you provided sounds odd in this order: Se celebra esta fiesta solo una vez al año but better as: Esta fiesta sólo se celebra una vez al año;

Changing the positioning of words in a sentence in English can dramatically change the meaning as Jtaniel has illustrated in his recent post

I hope this helps

Answer 3

You can also say mis tíos durante la serenata se pusieron a bailar, though I admit this is odd to me but still makes sense.

As for saying se celebra esta fiesta solo una vez al año makes sense but they way it's said is weird to me.