Breakdown of Die Wartezeit war unerträglich, was wir sofort kritisieren müssen!
sein
to be
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
sofort
immediately
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
was
which (referring to a whole clause)
unerträglich
unbearable
die Wartezeit
the waiting time
kritisieren
to criticize
Questions & Answers about Die Wartezeit war unerträglich, was wir sofort kritisieren müssen!
Why is was used here instead of a standard relative pronoun like das?
In German, when a relative pronoun refers back to an entire preceding clause or idea rather than a specific noun, you must use was. Here, was refers to the whole fact that the waiting time was unbearable, not to a specific neuter noun.
How could we rewrite this sentence to express the same idea using the current lesson's conjunction, zumal?
You could flip the clauses to make the unbearable wait the specific reason for the criticism: Wir müssen das sofort kritisieren, zumal die Wartezeit unerträglich war. (We must criticize this immediately, especially since the waiting time was unbearable.) Remember that zumal is a subordinating conjunction, so it sends the conjugated verb (war) to the end.
Why are there two verbs at the end of the sentence (kritisieren müssen), and why is müssen last?
Because was introduces a subordinate relative clause, the conjugated modal verb (müssen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence. The infinitive verb it modifies (kritisieren) goes immediately before it.
Is the adjective unerträglich related to the verb tragen (to carry)?
Yes! The verb ertragen means 'to bear' or 'to endure'. Adding the suffix -lich makes it an adjective meaning 'bearable', and the prefix un- makes it negative. So unerträglich perfectly translates to 'unbearable'.
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