Learn Hardcore German: Ich werde nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört. - I get nervous when the traffic bothers me too much.

In Ich werde nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört, the idea is: Whenever the traffic bothers me too much, I start to feel nervous. That’s why werde (become) fits very well.

You could say Ich bin nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört, but then it describes more a state that exists in those situations, not the process of getting nervous.

Does werde here mean a future tense, like “I will be nervous”?

No. Werden has two main uses:

As a normal verb: werden + adjective = to become / to get
- Ich werde nervös. = I get nervous.
As a future auxiliary: werden + infinitive = future tense
- Ich werde nervös sein. = I will be nervous. (future tense, quite rare; Germans usually just use the present)

In the sentence Ich werde nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört, werde is the normal verb werden = become, not a future marker.

Why is there a comma before wenn?

In German, subordinate clauses (Nebensätze) are always separated by a comma from the main clause.

Main clause: Ich werde nervös
Subordinate clause with wenn: wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört

So the correct punctuation is:
Ich werde nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört.

This is a fixed rule in German spelling: a comma is mandatory before conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl when they introduce a subordinate clause.

Why does the verb stört go at the end of the wenn-clause?

Wenn is a subordinating conjunction (like weil, dass, obwohl). In subordinate clauses:

The finite verb (the conjugated verb) goes to the very end of the clause.

So:

Main clause word order: Der Verkehr stört mich zu sehr.
(verb in 2nd position)
Subordinate clause: wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört
(same elements, but the conjugated verb stört is now last)

General pattern:
…, wenn + Subject + (objects/adverbs) + verb.

Why is it der Verkehr and not den Verkehr?

Because der Verkehr is the subject of the verb stört in the subordinate clause.

Subject (nominative): der Verkehr – the traffic
Verb: stört – bothers / disturbs
Object (accusative): mich – me

So the structure is:
(Wer/was?) Der Verkehr – (wen?) mich – stört.

If Verkehr were the direct object, you would see den Verkehr, e.g.:

Der Lärm stört den Verkehr. – The noise disrupts the traffic.

But in your sentence, Verkehr is doing the action of disturbing, so it’s der Verkehr (nominative).

Why do we use mich and not mir?

The verb stören takes an accusative object, not a dative object.

jemanden stören = to disturb / bother someone (accusative)

The accusative forms of ich are:

Nominative: ich
Accusative: mich
Dative: mir

Because mich is the direct object of stört, it must be in the accusative:

Der Verkehr stört mich. – The traffic bothers me.

If the verb required dative, you’d use mir, but stören does not. So mir would be incorrect here.

What exactly does stören mean here, and who is doing what to whom?

The verb stören means to disturb, bother, annoy, interfere with.

In der Verkehr stört mich:

der Verkehr = subject (nominative) → the thing causing the disturbance
mich = direct object (accusative) → the person who feels disturbed

So literally:
Der Verkehr stört mich. = The traffic disturbs/bothers me.

In English, we often say “Traffic stresses me out” or “Heavy traffic really gets on my nerves” – same idea.

What is the difference between zu sehr and just sehr here?

sehr = very
- Der Verkehr stört mich sehr. = The traffic bothers me a lot / very much.
zu sehr = too much (more than is acceptable or comfortable)
- Der Verkehr stört mich zu sehr. = The traffic bothers me too much.

So zu adds the idea of excess:

sehr = high degree
zu sehr = excessively, more than is okay

What’s the difference between zu sehr and zu viel?

Both can translate as “too much”, but they’re used differently:

zu viel = too much quantity, often with nouns
- Es gibt zu viel Verkehr. = There is too much traffic. (too many cars)
zu sehr = too strong degree/intensity of a feeling, action, or quality
- Der Verkehr stört mich zu sehr. = The traffic bothers me too much. (the disturbance is too intense)

So in your sentence we’re not counting traffic; we’re describing how strongly it bothers you. That’s why zu sehr is correct.

Can I put the wenn-clause at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. That’s very common in German. The meaning stays the same, but the word order in the main clause changes slightly:

Ich werde nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört.
Wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört, werde ich nervös.

Rule: If you move the wenn-clause to the front, it takes the first position, and the finite verb of the main clause (werde) must still be in second position, so werde comes directly after the comma and ich moves after it:
Wenn …, werde ich nervös.

Why do we use wenn and not als or wann here?

In German, these three words are different:

wenn
- Used for repeated or general conditions in the present, past, or future
- Meaning: when(ever) / if
- Ich werde nervös, wenn der Verkehr mich zu sehr stört.
  → Whenever traffic bothers me too much, I get nervous.
als
- Used for one specific event in the past
- Ich war nervös, als der Verkehr mich gestern so sehr störte.
  → I was nervous when the traffic bothered me so much yesterday.
wann
- A question word for points in time (direct or indirect questions)
- Wann stört dich der Verkehr? – When does the traffic bother you?
- Ich weiß nicht, wann der Verkehr dich stört. – I don’t know when the traffic bothers you.

In your sentence, we have a general, repeated situation (whenever this happens), so wenn is the right choice.