Diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich, obwohl sie höflich ist.

to be

Breakdown of Diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich, obwohl sie höflich ist.

• die E-Mail: the email
• sie: she/it
• diese: this

Questions & Answers about Diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich, obwohl sie höflich ist.

Why is it diese E-Mail and not dieser E-Mail?

Because E-Mail is feminine in German: die E-Mail.

So in the nominative singular, the demonstrative dies- becomes:

• masculine: dieser
• feminine: diese
• neuter: dieses

Here, E-Mail is the subject of the sentence, so nominative feminine is needed: Diese E-Mail.

What exactly does wirkt mean here?

Wirken means to seem, to come across, or to have the effect of appearing a certain way.

So:

• Diese E-Mail ist unpersönlich = This email is impersonal.
• Diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich = This email seems / comes across as impersonal.

Using wirkt makes the statement a little softer and more about impression rather than absolute fact.

Why is it unpersönlich and not unpersönliche?