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Ce meuble en noyer massif est certes beau, mais il coûte cher.

Ce meuble en noyer massif est certes beau, mais il coûte cher.
This solid walnut piece of furniture is admittedly beautiful, but it is expensive.
From Lesson 329:Structured concession (certes... mais)·French

Questions & Answers about Ce meuble en noyer massif est certes beau, mais il coûte cher.

How does the certes... mais structure work in this sentence?
It forms a structured concession, which is a very common rhetorical tool in French. Certes (admittedly / granted) concedes a point, while mais (but) introduces the counter-point that ultimately outweighs it.
Could I put certes at the beginning of the sentence instead?
Yes, you could completely say Certes, ce meuble... est beau, mais.... Placing it at the very start strongly flags to the listener that a contrast is coming. When placed inside the clause as it is here, it usually goes directly after the conjugated verb (est).
I always thought "furniture" was an uncountable noun. Why is it ce meuble here?
In English, "furniture" is uncountable, but the French word un meuble is a countable noun meaning "a piece of furniture." If you want to talk about furniture collectively, you must use the plural les meubles or the collective noun le mobilier.
Why do we use the preposition en in en noyer massif?
In French, the preposition en is the standard way to express what material an object is made of. Since noyer means "walnut wood", en noyer means "made of walnut".
In the phrase il coûte cher, does cher agree with the subject?
No, it doesn't. Although cher is normally an adjective, here it is acting as an adverb modifying the verb coûter. A key rule to remember is that when adjectives are used as adverbs (like in coûter cher, parler fort, or travailler dur), they become invariable. It would stay cher even if the subject were feminine or plural.

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