Breakdown of Dafür, dass die Smartwatch wenig kostet, loben sie viele Leute.
sie
she
die Leute
the people
viel
much / a lot
kosten
to cost
dass
that
wenig
little, few
dafür, dass
considering that
loben
to praise
die Smartwatch
the smartwatch
Questions & Answers about Dafür, dass die Smartwatch wenig kostet, loben sie viele Leute.
How does dafür, dass express surprise in this sentence?
The phrase dafür, dass translates best to 'considering that' or 'given that.' It sets up a condition or expectation that is then contradicted in the main clause. Here, the expectation is that inexpensive things usually aren't great, but the surprise is that many people praise this particular smartwatch.
Could I flip the order of the clauses and put the dafür, dass part at the end?
Yes! If you swap them, you would normally move the main noun into the main clause and use a pronoun in the subordinate clause: Viele Leute loben die Smartwatch dafür, dass sie wenig kostet. Starting the sentence with Dafür, dass... simply puts much more emphasis on the surprising low cost.
After the comma, why is the object (sie) placed before the subject (viele Leute)?
The main clause starts with the verb loben because the entire dafür, dass clause occupies the first position. After the verb, German strongly prefers to put pronouns before full nouns. Because sie (the accusative pronoun replacing the smartwatch) is a short pronoun, it naturally jumps ahead of the full noun subject viele Leute.
Could I use billig ist instead of wenig kostet?
Yes, you could say ... dass die Smartwatch billig ist ... but wenig kosten (to cost little) sounds a bit more neutral and objective. The word billig can sometimes carry a negative connotation of being 'cheaply made' or of 'low quality,' which might feel contradictory since people are praising the device.
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