I was listening to a streamer and they used the phrase 'alles passt' when refering to their set-up. I believe this means 'everything works' but then how is that different to 'alles funktioniert'. Also would it be legitimate to say 'mein Mikrofon passt nicht' as in 'my microphone doesn't work' or would you have to use 'funktioniert' still. Thank you!
2 Answers
"Alles passt" ist less specific, it basically means "everything is good" in a very general sense. You could use it in a restaurant when the waiter asks you if everything is ok, you could use it as an answer to "wie geht's?". It's really universal. Just remember that it's quite informal.
This also means that if you say "mein Mikrofon passt nicht", this is unspecific. Could mean its quality is bad, could be you don't don't like it for any reason, could not fit in a literal sense, could be that it's broken. "Mein Mikrofon funktioniert nicht" would be a bit more specific.
To make it a bit more confusing, I'll throw in that "funktioniert nicht" can also be used a more general sense in some contexts, like "works" in English, but it's used slightly differently in that case. If you say: "Das Mikrofon funktionert nicht für mich" (this microphone doesn't work for me) this could as well be about that it has some fundamental flaw that makes it impossible to use it.
The phrase 'alles passt' and 'alles funktioniert' are not the same.
The streamer could say about their setup 'alles funktioniert' but 'es passt nicht alles'.
'Funktioniert' is the technical aspect, the the voice is clear, it works etc. But it may be uncomfortable or awkward. My setup at work for Web-Meetings is so.
If I had a camera near my main monitor, a good mike and a less ugly background - then I could say: 'alles passt'.