Word
Sie waren darüber wütend, denn der Streik hatte schon angefangen.
Meaning
They were angry about it, because the strike had already started.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Sie waren darüber wütend, denn der Streik hatte schon angefangen.
sein
to be
haben
to have
sie
they
anfangen
to start
Questions & Answers about Sie waren darüber wütend, denn der Streik hatte schon angefangen.
Why does angefangen use hatte instead of war here? Doesn't starting imply a change of state?
While verbs showing a change of state or motion usually take sein (and therefore war in the Past Perfect), anfangen (to start) is an exception. It always uses haben (and therefore hatte). The same rule applies to its synonym, beginnen.
Why is hatte in the regular second position after denn, rather than at the end of the sentence?
denn (because) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it occupies "position zero" and connects two main clauses without changing their word order. If the sentence had used weil (also meaning "because"), the verb would have been pushed to the end: ... weil der Streik schon angefangen hatte.
What exactly is darüber doing in this sentence? Can I say über es instead?
darüber translates to "about it." In German, when a preposition like über is followed by "it" referring to a situation or thing (rather than a person), you combine them into a "da-word." You cannot say über es; it must become darüber.
How is the past participle angefangen formed?