Breakdown of Dieser Computer ist billig, aber er funktioniert gut.
sein
to be
er
he
gut
good / well
aber
but
funktionieren
to work (function)
der Computer
the computer
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
billig
cheap
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?
In English, we change the word depending on what it describes: we use "good" for things (a good computer) and "well" for actions (it works well). In German, this rule is much easier! Words that describe things and words that describe actions share the exact same form, so you can just use gut for both.
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