Beziehungen muss man haben.

[dattse]

Hi,

I came across "Beziehungen muss man haben.", which means "You need to know the right people."
Shouldn't it have been "Man muss Beziehungen haben."? Do they mean the same thing?

Vielen Dank!

 

[Demiurg]

"Man muss Beziehungen haben" is the regular word order (SVO). In "Beziehungen muss man haben", the object "Beziehungen" is emphasized. The meaning is the same but the sentence sounds much better this way.

 

[Gernot Back]

Shouldn't it have been "Man muss Beziehungen haben."? Do they mean the same thing?

No, by putting the object into the first position we are topicalizing it in German. I would guess, the literal English equivalent of this sentence in this word order would be:

It is relationships that you need (to have).​

or:

Relationships is what you need (to have).​

 

[dattse]

Vielen Dank!