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Man soll Kontakte knüpfen. Jedoch mögen wir den Smalltalk nicht.

Man soll Kontakte knüpfen. Jedoch mögen wir den Smalltalk nicht.
One should establish contacts. However, we do not like the small talk.
From Lesson 258:Connectors of contrast (jedoch, allerdings)·German

Questions & Answers about Man soll Kontakte knüpfen. Jedoch mögen wir den Smalltalk nicht.

Why does the verb mögen come right after Jedoch?
Jedoch (however) is an adverbial connector, which means it acts as the first idea (Position 1) in the sentence. Because German requires the conjugated verb to be in Position 2 (the V2 rule), the verb mögen must come immediately after it, pushing the subject wir into Position 3.
Can I put jedoch somewhere else in the second sentence?
Yes, adverbial connectors like jedoch are quite flexible! If you wanted to start with the subject, you could move it to the middle of the sentence: Wir mögen jedoch den Smalltalk nicht. Notice how the verb mögen stays firmly in Position 2.
I usually see knüpfen translated as "to tie" or "to knot". How does it mean "establish" here?
Kontakte knüpfen is a very common fixed phrase in German. Just as you "tie a knot" in English, in German you literally "tie contacts" when you network, socialize, or establish new relationships.
Why is nicht at the very end of the sentence instead of right before den Smalltalk?
When you negate a whole sentence or the main verb (here, the act of liking), nicht usually goes to the end. Since den Smalltalk is a known direct object with a definite article, the nicht safely parks itself after it. You would only put nicht right in front of den Smalltalk if you were directly contrasting it with something else, like "not small talk, but deep conversations".
Why does the subject change from Man to wir?
This highlights the contrast in the sentence! Man represents the general public or societal expectations ("one should" or "people are supposed to"). The second sentence shifts to wir to contrast what society generally expects with what "we" actually prefer to do.

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