Der Junge schwimmt viel, aber er tanzt nicht gern.
The boy swims a lot, but he does not like dancing.
Breakdown of Der Junge schwimmt viel, aber er tanzt nicht gern.
er
he
gern
gladly, like to
aber
but
viel
much / a lot
Questions & Answers about Der Junge schwimmt viel, aber er tanzt nicht gern.
Why do we use viel here instead of sehr for "a lot"?
In German, viel means "a lot" or "much" and is used with verbs to show how much an action is done (like swimming a lot). You use sehr (very) with adjectives to describe how strongly a description applies, like being very fast (sehr schnell).
How does nicht gern translate to "does not like dancing"? I don't see a verb for "to like".
German usually doesn't use a verb for "to like" when talking about activities. Instead, you use the regular verb for the action (tanzt) and add the word gern (gladly). So er tanzt gern literally means "he dances gladly", and adding nicht makes it er tanzt nicht gern (he does not like dancing).
Why is er right after aber? Doesn't the verb have to be in the second position?
Yes, the verb must be in the second position! However, simple connecting words like aber (but) and und (and) count as "position zero." They glue the two sentences together without affecting the word order. So, er takes position 1, and the verb tanzt is correctly in position 2.
Why does nicht come before gern?