Breakdown of Der Chef ist oft wütend, wenn wir ihn stören.
sein
to be
oft
often
wir
we
der Chef
the boss (male)
ihn
him
wütend
angry
wenn
if / when (conditional, not a question word)
stören
to disturb
Questions & Answers about Der Chef ist oft wütend, wenn wir ihn stören.
Why does the verb stören go at the very end of the sentence?
wenn is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause and forces the conjugated verb (in this case, stören) to move all the way to the end of that clause.
Can wenn mean "if" instead of "when"?
Yes! wenn is used for both conditions ("if") and present/future events ("whenever" or "when"). In this sentence, translating it as "if we disturb him" or "whenever we disturb him" works just as well and means basically the same thing.
Does Chef mean a cook who works in a kitchen?
No, Chef is a classic false friend. In German, der Chef usually means "the boss" or "manager". If you want to talk about a professional cook, you would use der Koch.
Why do we use ihn here instead of ihm?
ihn is the accusative (direct object) form of "he". Because the boss is the one receiving the action (he is the one being disturbed by us), we must use the accusative case. ihm is the dative form, which isn't used with the verb stören.
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