Breakdown of Dieser Computer ist billig, aber er funktioniert gut.
sein
to be
er
he
gut
good / well
aber
but
Questions & Answers about Dieser Computer ist billig, aber er funktioniert gut.
Doesn't the conjunction aber take up the first position in the second half of the sentence?
No, aber (but) is a "Position 0" conjunction. It acts as a bridge connecting two independent sentences without taking up a word-order slot in the second one. This means the subject er sits in Position 1, allowing the verb funktioniert to stay exactly where it belongs: in Position 2.
Why does the sentence use er to say "it works"? Shouldn't "it" be es?
In German, pronouns must always match the grammatical gender of the noun they are replacing. Because Computer is a masculine noun (der Computer), we have to use the masculine pronoun er (which usually means "he") to refer back to it.
Why does the word for "this" end in -er (Dieser)?
The base word for "this" is dies-, and its ending changes to match the gender of the noun it is attached to. Since Computer is a masculine noun and is the subject of the sentence, it gets the masculine ending -er. It helps to remember that Dieser rhymes with der!
I learned that gut means "good". Why does it translate to "well" here?