Breakdown of Deze student is weliswaar veeleisend, maar ze kookt wel erg lekker.
zijn
to be
de student
the student
maar
but
koken
to cook
lekker
tasty / nicely / pleasantly
erg
very / really
deze
this / these
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
wel
indeed, surely (contrastive particle)
weliswaar
admittedly / true (conceding a point)
veeleisend
demanding (making high demands)
Questions & Answers about Deze student is weliswaar veeleisend, maar ze kookt wel erg lekker.
How does the combination of weliswaar and maar work here?
This correlative structure sets up a concession followed by a counter-argument, much like "admittedly... but" or "it's true that... but" in English. Weliswaar acknowledges a drawback (she is demanding), while maar introduces the positive trait that makes up for it (her cooking).
Could I put weliswaar at the beginning of the sentence?
Yes, but you would need to apply word order inversion in the first clause. It would become: Weliswaar is deze student veeleisend, maar... Putting it in the middle, right after the finite verb (is), is the more neutral and common choice.
What does the extra wel add to maar ze kookt wel erg lekker?
Here, wel is an emphasizing modal particle. It reinforces the contrast against the negative first clause. It works exactly like the emphatic "does" in the English translation: "but she does cook very well."
Why use lekker instead of goed to say she cooks well?
While you could absolutely say goed koken (having good cooking skills), Dutch speakers frequently use lekker koken. It shifts the focus slightly from the technical skill to the delicious result. It translates literally to "cooks deliciously."
The sentence says Deze student but later refers to her as ze. Shouldn't it be studente?
You can use studente to specifically indicate a female student, but it is not required. In modern Dutch, it is very common and perfectly correct to use the general (originally masculine/common) noun student for a woman, while still using the feminine pronoun ze to refer back to her.
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