Breakdown of Sollte das Display zu klein sein, verkauft es sich schlecht.
sein
to be
es
it
klein
small
schlecht
bad
zu
too (e.g., too big)
verkaufen
to sell
sollen
should / ought to
sich
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)
das Display
the display
Questions & Answers about Sollte das Display zu klein sein, verkauft es sich schlecht.
How does verkauft es sich work as an alternative to the passive voice here?
This is called the reflexive middle voice. Instead of using a true passive like wird schlecht verkauft (is poorly sold), German often pairs a reflexive verb like sich verkaufen with an adverb such as schlecht, gut, or leicht. This construction describes how something undergoes an action without naming the doer. English does the exact same thing here with the phrase "it sells poorly."
Why does the first clause start with the verb sollte instead of a word like wenn?
This is a conditional clause where the word wenn (if) has been dropped. When you drop wenn, the conjugated verb gets bumped to the very first position in the sentence. It means the exact same thing as Wenn das Display zu klein sein sollte (If the display should be too small). English uses a similar trick: "Should the display be..." instead of "If the display should be..."
Does sollte mean "ought to" in this context, or is it in the past tense?
Neither! Here, sollte is in the Konjunktiv II (Subjunctive II) mood, which is used for hypotheticals. In conditional "if" clauses, using sollte suggests that the condition is possible but perhaps a little unlikely. It acts just like saying "If it happens to be..." or "Should it be..." in English.
Why does the second half of the sentence start immediately with the verb verkauft?
In German, the conjugated verb in a main clause must take the second position. Even though it is long, the entire first clause (Sollte das Display zu klein sein) counts as position one. To keep the verb in position two, verkauft has to come right after the comma.
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