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

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.

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.

Because unpersönlich is being used as a predicate adjective, not as an adjective directly in front of a noun.

Compare:

• eine unpersönliche E-Mail = an impersonal email
  → adjective before a noun, so it takes an ending
• Die E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich = The email seems impersonal
  → predicate adjective, so no ending

This is the same pattern as:

• Das Haus ist groß
• Sie bleibt ruhig
• Er wirkt müde

Because obwohl introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses are separated by a comma.

So the sentence is divided into:

• main clause: Diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich
• subordinate clause: obwohl sie höflich ist

This comma is required in standard German.

Because obwohl is a subordinating conjunction. In German, subordinating conjunctions send the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.

So:

• main clause: sie ist höflich
• subordinate clause with obwohl: obwohl sie höflich ist

This is a very common rule with words like:

• weil = because
• dass = that
• wenn = if/when
• obwohl = although

Obwohl means although, even though, or though.

It introduces a contrast:

• Diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich
• obwohl sie höflich ist

So the idea is: being polite does not stop it from seeming impersonal.

It is used to connect two ideas that seem a little contradictory or surprising.

Here, sie refers to die E-Mail.

Since E-Mail is feminine, the pronoun used for it is sie.

So:

• die E-Mail → sie

In English, we usually say it for things, but in German pronouns follow grammatical gender, not natural gender. That is why sie here means it, not she.

For the same reason as unpersönlich: it is a predicate adjective after ist, not an adjective before a noun.

Compare:

• eine höfliche E-Mail = a polite email
• Die E-Mail ist höflich = The email is polite

After verbs like sein, wirken, bleiben, werden, adjectives usually do not take endings.

Yes, there can be a difference in nuance.

• unpersönlich usually means impersonal, formal, cold, or lacking a personal touch
• nicht persönlich often means not personal in a more neutral or literal sense

In this sentence, unpersönlich is the more natural word because it describes the tone or effect of the email.

Yes, often you could.

• wirkt unpersönlich = seems / comes across as impersonal
• klingt unpersönlich = sounds impersonal

The difference is small:

• klingt focuses more on how it sounds, especially the wording
• wirkt is a bit broader and refers to the overall impression

For an email, both are possible, but wirkt is slightly more general.

Yes:

Obwohl sie höflich ist, wirkt diese E-Mail unpersönlich.

That is completely correct.

When the subordinate clause comes first, the main clause still follows normal German word order rules, which means the verb comes before the subject in the main clause:

• Obwohl sie höflich ist, wirkt diese E-Mail unpersönlich.

Not:

• Obwohl sie höflich ist, diese E-Mail wirkt unpersönlich. ❌

In standard German, E-Mail is normally feminine: die E-Mail.

So you will usually see:

• die E-Mail
• eine E-Mail
• diese E-Mail

That is the standard form learners should use.

It sounds neutral and natural. It could easily appear in:

• feedback about writing
• workplace communication
• language learning materials
• customer-service training

Words like unpersönlich and höflich are common and not especially casual. The sentence is clear, standard German.