Breakdown of Wir haben das Problem oft mit dem Chef diskutiert.
oft
often
haben
to have
das Problem
the problem
wir
we
der Chef
the boss (male)
mit
with
diskutieren
to discuss
Questions & Answers about Wir haben das Problem oft mit dem Chef diskutiert.
Why doesn't diskutiert have a ge- at the beginning like most past participles?
The infinitive of this verb is diskutieren. In German, verbs that end in -ieren never take the ge- prefix when forming the past participle. You just take the verb stem (diskutier-) and add a -t at the end.
Why is the word diskutiert all the way at the end of the sentence?
This is the required word order for the Perfekt (spoken past) tense. The helping verb (haben) takes the normal second position in the sentence, and the past participle (diskutiert) is always pushed to the very end.
Why does the sentence use mit dem Chef instead of mit der Chef?
The preposition mit (meaning 'with') is a dative preposition. This means it always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Since Chef is a masculine noun (der Chef), the der changes to dem.
Does Chef mean the person cooking food in a restaurant?
No, this is a famous 'false friend' for English speakers! In German, der Chef means 'the boss' or 'the manager'. If you want to talk about a chef in a kitchen, you would use the word der Koch.
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