Breakdown of Der Mitarbeiter ist angekommen und bringt dem Chef das Paket.
sein
to be
und
and
der Chef
the boss (male)
bringen
to bring
ankommen
to arrive
der Mitarbeiter
the employee (male)
das Paket
the package
Questions & Answers about Der Mitarbeiter ist angekommen und bringt dem Chef das Paket.
Why is it dem Chef instead of den Chef?
The verb bringen (to bring) takes two objects: the thing being brought, which is the accusative direct object, and the person receiving it, which is the dative indirect object. Since the boss is receiving the package, Chef takes the masculine dative article dem.
Why does dem Chef come before das Paket?
When a German sentence has two noun objects, the general rule is that the dative noun (dem Chef) always comes before the accusative noun (das Paket). This is the standard word order for verbs with double objects.
Why does the first half of the sentence use ist instead of hat for the past tense?
The verb ankommen (to arrive) describes a change of location. In German, verbs that express a change of location or state use a form of sein (to be) as their helping verb in the past tense, so we must say ist angekommen.
Where is the subject in the second half of the sentence after und?
Because both actions are done by the exact same person (Der Mitarbeiter), the subject does not need to be repeated after the coordinating conjunction und (and). The verb bringt immediately follows the conjunction as if the subject were still sitting right there.
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