Die Scheibenwischer sind alt, aber sie reinigen die Windschutzscheibe noch gut genug.

Here die is the plural definite article, not a feminine singular article.

• der Scheibenwischer = the windshield wiper
• die Scheibenwischer = the windshield wipers

In German, all plural nouns use die in the nominative.

The singular is der Scheibenwischer.

This noun has the same form in singular and plural:

• der Scheibenwischer = the windshield wiper
• die Scheibenwischer = the windshield wipers

That is very common in German, especially with some nouns ending in -er.

German often combines smaller words into one long noun.

• Scheibenwischer = Scheibe

  • Wischer
    Literally something like pane/window wiper

• Windschutzscheibe = Wind

  • Schutz
    • Scheibe
      Literally wind-protection pane, which is the normal German word for windshield

The last part usually determines the grammatical gender:

• der Wischer → der Scheibenwischer
• die Scheibe → die Windschutzscheibe

Because alt comes after the verb sein and works as a predicate adjective.

After sein, adjectives usually do not take endings:

• Die Scheibenwischer sind alt.
• Das Auto ist schnell.
• Die Straße ist nass.

You only add an adjective ending when the adjective comes before a noun:

• alte Scheibenwischer = old windshield wipers

So:

• Die Scheibenwischer sind alt. ✅
• Die Scheibenwischer sind alte. ❌

Aber is a coordinating conjunction. It connects two main clauses, but it does not force the verb to the end.

So the second clause keeps normal main-clause word order, where the finite verb is in second position:

• aber sie reinigen die Windschutzscheibe noch gut genug

Structure:

• aber = conjunction
• sie = subject
• reinigen = finite verb
• die Windschutzscheibe = object

Compare with a subordinating conjunction like weil, which would move the verb:

• ..., weil sie die Windschutzscheibe noch gut genug reinigen.

Here sie means they, referring back to die Scheibenwischer.

German sie can mean several different things depending on context:

• she
• they
• you (formal, written Sie)

In this sentence, the verb form tells you it must be they:

• sie reinigen = they clean
• sie reinigt = she/it cleans

Because the verb is reinigen (plural), sie must be plural here.

Because Windschutzscheibe is the direct object of reinigen, and the noun itself is feminine:

• nominative: die Windschutzscheibe
• accusative: die Windschutzscheibe

For feminine singular nouns, the definite article is die in both nominative and accusative.

So even though the case changes, the article looks the same.

Compare with a masculine noun, where you would see the change more clearly:

• nominative: der Spiegel
• accusative: den Spiegel

Because German articles do not always change visibly in every gender.

For feminine singular:

• nominative: die
• accusative: die

So in this sentence, you know die Windschutzscheibe is the object mainly because of the verb reinigen and the sentence structure, not because the article changes form.

Here noch means something like still.

It adds the idea that, even though the windshield wipers are old, they still do the job well enough.

So noch gives a sense of continuation:

• they are old
• but they still clean the windshield well enough

Without noch, the sentence would still be grammatical, but it would lose that extra nuance.

In German, genug usually comes after the adjective or adverb it modifies.

So:

• gut genug = good enough
• schnell genug = fast enough
• groß genug = big enough

That is the normal pattern.

So in this sentence:

• noch gut genug = still well enough / still good enough

Here gut is functioning adverbially. In German, the same form is often used for both the adjective and the adverb.

So:

• ein guter Scheibenwischer = a good windshield wiper
• Die Scheibenwischer reinigen gut. = The windshield wipers clean well.

Unlike English, German usually does not add a special -ly ending. The plain adjective form often does the job.

Because aber is connecting two main clauses:

• Die Scheibenwischer sind alt
• sie reinigen die Windschutzscheibe noch gut genug

In German, a comma is normally used before aber when it joins full clauses like this.

So the comma is not optional here in standard writing.

Yes, depending on the exact nuance.

• reinigen focuses on cleaning
• wischen focuses more on the wiping motion

With windshield wipers, wischen is very natural because that is literally what they do.
But reinigen is also understandable and emphasizes the result: the windshield gets cleaned.

So this sentence is fine, but a learner might also come across sentences with wischen.

Because German normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• Windschutzscheibe ✅
• Wind Schutz Scheibe ❌

This is one of the most important spelling habits in German. Long noun compounds may look difficult at first, but they are very normal and very common.