Breakdown of Überraschenderweise war das Büro leer und mein Chef war noch nicht da.
sein
to be
und
and
das Büro
the office
der Chef
the boss (male)
mein
my
da
there
noch nicht
not yet
leer
empty
überraschenderweise
surprisingly
Questions & Answers about Überraschenderweise war das Büro leer und mein Chef war noch nicht da.
How do we form überraschenderweise? Why is there an -er- in the middle?
It is formed by adding the suffix -weise (meaning 'in a manner' or 'way') to the adjective überraschend (surprising). When attaching -weise to an adjective to express an attitude, German usually inserts a connecting -er- to make the word flow better. This creates an adverb meaning 'surprisingly'.
Why does the verb war come right after Überraschenderweise?
Because Überraschenderweise is an adverb taking up the first position in the sentence. In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must always sit in the second position. To keep war in position two, it has to swap places with the subject das Büro.
Why is the phrase ordered as noch nicht da instead of nicht noch da?
Noch nicht is a fixed phrase in German that translates directly to 'not yet'. You will almost always see these two words grouped together in this exact order. The word da in this context means 'there' or 'present', making the whole chunk mean 'not there yet'.
Why use the simple past war here instead of the spoken past ist gewesen?
War is the simple past (Präteritum) of sein (to be). Although conversational German usually prefers the spoken past (Perfekt) for most verbs, sein and haben are the big exceptions. Native speakers almost always use their simple past forms (war and hatte) because they are shorter and feel much more natural.
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