Breakdown of Bilen är knappast billig. – Jo, och dessutom är den snabb.
vara
to be
den
it (common)
och
and
bilen
the car
snabb
fast
billig
cheap
jo
yes (in response to a negative)
knappast
hardly
dessutom
furthermore
Questions & Answers about Bilen är knappast billig. – Jo, och dessutom är den snabb.
Why do we use jo here instead of ja?
Jo is used to mean 'yes' when you are contradicting a negative statement or question. Here, the word knappast (hardly) makes the first sentence negative. The second speaker uses jo to disagree and say that the car actually is cheap.
Why is the word order är den snabb instead of den är snabb?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The word och (and) just connects the sentences, but the adverb dessutom (furthermore) takes up the first position in the new clause. Because the verb must come second, är comes right after dessutom, pushing the subject den to the third spot: ...och dessutom är den snabb.
Why does the second speaker use den for 'it' instead of det?
Den refers back to bilen (the car). Because en bil is an en-word, you must use den to mean 'it'. If they were talking about an ett-word like tåget (the train), they would have said ...dessutom är det snabbt.
Since den refers to the specific car (bilen), why isn't snabb in the definite form (snabba)?
When an adjective comes after the verb to be (like in 'it is fast'), it stays in the basic indefinite form, only matching the gender and number of the noun. You generally only use the '-a' ending when the adjective comes directly before a definite noun, like den snabba bilen (the fast car).
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