Questions & Answers about Wozu soll das gut sein?
Wait, the current lesson is about hier- compounds. How does wozu fit into that?
wozu is an interrogative pronominal adverb (asking "what for?"). It is the question word that corresponds to the demonstrative answers dazu ("for that") and hierzu ("for this"). If someone asked you Wozu soll das gut sein?, you could answer by pointing at a specific task and saying Es ist hierzu gut (It is good for this).
The English translation says "good for". Why use wozu instead of wofür?
In German, both wozu (from the concept of zu etwas gut sein) and wofür (from für etwas gut sein) are perfectly correct and commonly used here. Wozu tends to focus slightly more on the purpose or function ("to what end?"), while wofür feels slightly more like asking about the benefit, but in everyday speech they are essentially interchangeable in this phrase.
What exactly does soll add to this sentence?
Using the modal verb sollen (here as soll) translates to "supposed to". It adds a tone of skepticism, doubt, or even mild exasperation. If you just ask Wozu ist das gut?, it is a completely neutral question: "What is that good for?". Adding soll makes it sound like you seriously doubt the thing actually has a use.
Could I use es instead of das in this sentence?
Grammatically, yes (Wozu soll es gut sein?). However, using the demonstrative pronoun das ("that") adds necessary emphasis. Because this question is usually asked when reacting to a specific, questionable thing or idea, das is the much more natural and common choice than the weaker es ("it").
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