Wenn der Cursor im falschen Tab blinkt, schreibe ich manchmal in das falsche Dokument.

When the cursor is blinking in the wrong tab, I sometimes write in the wrong document.

Breakdown of Wenn der Cursor im falschen Tab blinkt, schreibe ich manchmal in das falsche Dokument.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• ich: I
• manchmal: sometimes

Questions & Answers about Wenn der Cursor im falschen Tab blinkt, schreibe ich manchmal in das falsche Dokument.

Why does the sentence start with wenn, and what does it do to the word order?

Wenn introduces a subordinate clause, here meaning when or whenever.

In a wenn-clause, the conjugated verb goes to the end:

• Wenn der Cursor im falschen Tab blinkt

That is why blinkt comes last in that clause.

Then the main clause follows:

• schreibe ich manchmal in das falsche Dokument

So the sentence pattern is:

• Wenn + subordinate clause ..., main clause

Why is it der Cursor and not den Cursor?

Der Cursor is the subject of the wenn-clause, so it is in the nominative case.

Ask yourself: Who is blinking?
Answer: the cursor.

So:

• der Cursor blinkt = the cursor is blinking

If it were the direct object, then you might see den Cursor, but that is not the role here.

What is im short for?