El interés legítimo es necesario para la copia autorizada.

to be

Breakdown of El interés legítimo es necesario para la copia autorizada.

• para: for
• necesario: necessary
• la copia autorizada: the authorised copy

Questions & Answers about El interés legítimo es necesario para la copia autorizada.

Why does the sentence start with El? Why not just Interés legítimo?

Spanish often uses the definite article where English would not. In this sentence, El interés legítimo means legitimate interest in a general or abstract sense, but Spanish normally includes el with singular abstract nouns like this.

So:

• El interés legítimo es necesario... = Legitimate interest is necessary...

Leaving out el here would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Spanish.

Why is it interés legítimo and not legítimo interés?

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun, so interés legítimo is the normal order.

• interés = interest
• legítimo = legitimate

You may sometimes see adjectives before the noun in Spanish, but that often adds emphasis, style, or a slightly different nuance. Here, interés legítimo is the standard, neutral phrasing, especially in legal or formal language.

Why does legítimo end in -o?

Because interés is a masculine singular noun, the adjective must agree with it in gender and number.

So:

• interés legítimo = masculine singular
• intereses legítimos = masculine plural
• If the noun were feminine singular, it would be legítima

This agreement is a basic feature of Spanish grammar: adjectives match the noun they describe.