Finding the main entrance in a station | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Entschuldigung, wie komme ich zum Haupteingang?

   Excuse me, which way leads to the main entrance?

   Entschuldigung

   Excuse me

   wie

   how

   komme

   get; come

   zum

   to the

   Haupteingang

   main entrance

   More detail

   Entschuldigung is a polite way to get someone’s attention; here it functions as “Excuse me.” It is also the noun meaning “apology” in other contexts. wie means “how” here. In a direction question, Wie komme ich ...? is a reusable German pattern meaning “How do I get ...?” or, naturally, “Which way leads ...?” This is not the same as asking which object: welcher, welche, or welches is used for “which” when a choice between named things is meant. komme is the first-person singular present form of kommen (“to come,” or “to get/reach” in this route pattern). The form chain is kommen → ich komme. The subject ich appears after the conjugated verb in this question, and the verb form agrees with it. German main-clause questions commonly place the conjugated verb before the subject: Wie komme ich ...? — “How do I get ...?” zum is the contraction of zu dem, meaning “to the” in this context. zu takes the dative case, and dem is the dative masculine or neuter definite article. The contraction is standard: zu dem → zum. Haupteingang means “main entrance.” It is a masculine compound noun: der Haupteingang; after zu, it appears in the dative: dem Haupteingang. The noun itself remains Haupteingang; the dative marking is carried by the article inside zum. A useful related contrast is der Eingang (“the entrance”) versus der Haupteingang (“the main entrance”). Together, wie komme ich zum Haupteingang? literally asks how the speaker gets to the main entrance. With the opening Entschuldigung, the complete utterance is: “Excuse me, which way leads to the main entrance?” It is a polite request for directions.

2. Folgen Sie den gelben Schildern zur Haupthalle.

   Follow the yellow signs toward the main hall.

   Folgen Sie

   follow (formal)

   gelben

   yellow

   Schildern

   signs

   zur

   to the

   Haupthalle

   main hall

   More detail

   Folgen Sie is the formal imperative of folgen (“to follow”). It addresses one person politely or several people; the capitalized Sie is the formal pronoun. folgen takes the dative for the thing or person followed, which appears next as den Schildern. gelben means “yellow” here. Its base form is gelb; the ending -en marks the adjective’s position after the definite article in the dative plural phrase den gelben Schildern. For comparison, gelb means “yellow,” while gelber means “yellower” and am gelbsten means “the yellowest.” Schildern means “signs.” Its base form is das Schild; the plural is die Schilder, and the dative plural adds -n: den Schildern. Example: Folgen Sie den Schildern. — “Follow the signs.” zur is the contraction of zu der, meaning “to the.” zu commonly marks a destination or direction. Here it introduces Haupthalle, so the instruction leads toward or to the main hall. Haupthalle means “main hall.” It is a compound of Haupt (“main”) and Halle (“hall”); the whole noun is feminine: die Haupthalle. After zu der, it is in the dative singular, but its form remains Haupthalle. Together, Folgen Sie den gelben Schildern gives the instruction “Follow the yellow signs,” and zur Haupthalle specifies the destination. The complete utterance is therefore “Follow the yellow signs toward the main hall.”

3. Soll ich nach der Ticketkontrolle die Rolltreppe nehmen?

   Should I take the escalator after the ticket gate?

   Soll ich

   Should I …?

   nach

   after

   Ticketkontrolle

   ticket inspection

   Rolltreppe

   escalator

   nehmen

   take

   More detail

   Soll ich combines sollen (“should/be supposed to”) with ich (“I”). In this question, sollen asks whether taking the escalator is the appropriate choice. Soll is the present-tense first-person singular form of sollen; the modal verb comes before the subject in this yes/no question, while the other verb goes to the end. Pattern: Soll ich + ... + infinitive? Example: Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” nach means “after” here because it introduces a point in time. With this temporal meaning, nach takes the dative: nach der Ticketkontrolle. It can also have a directional meaning, “to,” in other contexts, so the following phrase and the intended meaning determine the use. Ticketkontrolle is a feminine noun meaning “ticket inspection” or “ticket check.” It is a compound of Ticket and Kontrolle; its plural is Ticketkontrollen. In der Ticketkontrolle, der marks the feminine singular dative required by temporal nach. Rolltreppe is the feminine noun “escalator”; its plural is Rolltreppen. In the sentence, die Rolltreppe is the object of nehmen. The feminine singular form has the same spelling in the nominative and accusative, although the article shows the case here: die Rolltreppe. nehmen means “to take” and, with a route or means of transport, can mean “to use.” Its principal forms are nehmen – nahm – genommen. Here it is an infinitive controlled by the modal verb soll; it does not mean physically taking the escalator away. Example: Ich nehme den Aufzug. — “I take/use the elevator.” Together, Soll ich ... nehmen? asks whether the speaker should use something. nach der Ticketkontrolle places that action after the ticket inspection, and die Rolltreppe identifies the escalator as what the speaker would use. The complete meaning is: “Should I take the escalator after the ticket gate?”

4. Nehmen Sie die Rolltreppe nach oben und biegen Sie dann rechts ab.

   Take it upstairs, then turn right.

   Nehmen Sie

   take

   die Rolltreppe

   the escalator

   nach oben

   upstairs

   dann

   then

   biegen … ab

   turn

   rechts

   right

   More detail

   Nehmen Sie is the formal Sie imperative of nehmen (“to take”). In a directive, the verb comes first and Sie follows it: Nehmen Sie ... = “Take ...”. The same visible form can also be a present-tense statement in another context, so the instruction meaning comes from its use here. Example: Warten Sie hier. — “Wait here.” die Rolltreppe means “the escalator.” Rolltreppe is feminine, and die is the form used here for both feminine nominative and accusative; nehmen takes its object in the accusative. The noun’s useful singular/plural pair is die Rolltreppe / die Rolltreppen. Example: Nehmen Sie die Rolltreppe. — “Take the escalator.” nach oben gives upward direction: “upstairs” or “up.” oben means “up/top” as a location, while nach oben presents movement toward that direction. Example: Gehen Sie nach oben. — “Go upstairs.” dann means “then” and places the next action after the preceding one. Here, taking the escalator comes first, and the turn follows. biegen ... ab is the separable verb abbiegen, “to turn,” especially when changing direction. In the formal Sie imperative, the conjugated part is biegen Sie, while the prefix ab appears at the end: Biegen Sie ... ab. Example: Biegen Sie links ab. — “Turn left.” rechts means “right” as a direction. It is an adverb here and does not change form. The contrasting direction is links, “left.” Example: Gehen Sie rechts. — “Go right.” Together, Nehmen Sie die Rolltreppe nach oben gives the first instruction, “Take the escalator upstairs.” dann links it to the second instruction, and biegen Sie dann rechts ab means “then turn right.” The complete route instruction is therefore: “Take the escalator upstairs, then turn right.”

5. Ist der Haupteingang weit von hier?

   Is the main entrance far from here?

   Ist

   is

   der Haupteingang

   the main entrance

   weit

   far

   von hier

   from here

   More detail

   Ist is the present-tense form of sein (“to be”) for er, sie, and es, and also for a singular noun such as der Haupteingang. In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes first: Ist ...? means “Is ...?” Compare the statement Der Haupteingang ist weit von hier. (“The main entrance is far from here.”), where the subject comes first. der Haupteingang means “the main entrance.” Eingang is the noun “entrance,” and Haupt- specifies the main one; together they form a compound noun. Eingang is masculine, so its definite article here is der. The article is part of the noun phrase, while Haupteingang is the noun carrying the concrete meaning. weit means “far” in this sentence, describing distance. Its common opposite is nah (“near”). For example: Der Bahnhof ist weit von hier. — “The train station is far from here.” von hier means “from here.” von introduces the starting point or reference point, and hier means “here.” The same pattern can be reused with another place: von dort means “from there.” Together, Ist at the beginning marks a yes/no question, der Haupteingang is the thing being located, and weit von hier describes its distance from the speaker’s current location. The complete meaning is: “Is the main entrance far from here?”

6. Von dort ist es nur ein kurzer Fußweg.

   It is a short walk from there.

   Von dort

   from there

   ist es

   it is

   nur

   only; just

   kurzer

   short

   Fußweg

   walk; walking distance

   More detail

   Von dort gives the starting point: von means “from” and takes the dative, while dort means “there” and does not inflect. The phrase can be reused for locations: Von dort fährt der Bus. — “The bus leaves from there.” ist es uses sein (“to be”) in the third-person singular present: ist. Here es is a grammatical “it” in the statement about the distance or route; the sentence does not identify a separate person or object called “it.” nur limits the description: the walk is only or just as short as stated. It modifies the extent of the walk, not the location phrase. kurzer comes from the adjective kurz (“short”). Its comparison is kurz → kürzer (“shorter”) → am kürzesten (“shortest”). In ein kurzer Fußweg, it describes the masculine noun Fußweg in the nominative. Because ein has no visible ending here, the adjective carries the masculine nominative ending -er. Fußweg is a masculine compound noun meaning a walk or walking distance: literally, a way travelled on foot. Its plural is Fußwege. For example, Der Fußweg dauert zehn Minuten. — “The walk takes ten minutes.” Together, Von dort identifies the starting location, ist es presents the distance or route, and nur ein kurzer Fußweg says that reaching the relevant destination requires only a short walk. The complete meaning is: “It is a short walk from there.”

7. Dieser Bahnhof ist ein bisschen verwirrend.

   This station is a little confusing.

   Dieser

   this

   Bahnhof

   station

   ist

   is

   ein bisschen

   a little

   verwirrend

   confusing

   More detail

   Dieser means “this” here and identifies a singular masculine noun in the sentence. It matches Bahnhof in case and number: dieser Bahnhof = “this station.” The corresponding forms change with the noun’s grammatical gender and role; for example, diese Straße means “this street,” while dieses Gebäude means “this building.” Bahnhof means “station,” specifically a railway station. It is a masculine noun, so its basic article is der: der Bahnhof. The plural is Bahnhöfe (“stations”), with an umlaut and the ending -e. ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”). The useful present-tense chain is ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist; the form ist is used with a singular third-person subject. Here it links the subject to the description that follows. ein bisschen means “a little” and softens the description. It is a common adverbial expression, so it does not assert a specific numerical quantity here. For example: Das ist ein bisschen schwierig. — “That is a little difficult.” verwirrend means “confusing”: it describes something that causes confusion. It comes from the verb verwirren (“to confuse”) and is used here as a predicative adjective after ist, so it has no adjective ending in this position. Do not confuse it with verwirrt (“confused”), which describes a person or thing experiencing confusion: Ich bin verwirrt. — “I am confused.” Together, Dieser Bahnhof gives the subject “This station,” ist means “is,” and ein bisschen verwirrend adds the softened description “a little confusing.” The complete utterance therefore means: “This station is a little confusing.”

8. Oben kann man den Schildern leichter folgen.

   The signs are easier to follow upstairs.

   Oben

   upstairs

   kann man

   one can

   Schildern

   signs

   leichter

   more easily

   folgen

   follow

   More detail

   Oben means “upstairs” here and functions as a location adverb. It describes where the action is easier, without naming a specific room or floor. Compare unten (“downstairs”) for the opposite location. kann man combines kann, the third-person singular present form of können (“can, be able to”), with the impersonal pronoun man (“one,” or “people” in a general sense). The phrase presents the action as possible or feasible in general, not as something a specifically named person must do. Example: Hier kann man warten. — “One can wait here.” Schildern means “the signs” in this sentence. The base noun is das Schild; its plural is die Schilder. The ending -n here marks the dative plural: den Schildern. German uses dative after folgen, so the signs are the things being followed. Example: Ich folge den Schildern. — “I follow the signs.” leichter means “more easily” here. It is the comparative form of the adverb leicht (“easily”); the related adjective leicht can also mean “easy” depending on its construction. The comparison says that following the signs is easier upstairs than in the relevant alternative situation. Example: Mit dieser Karte findet man den Weg leichter. — “With this map, one finds the way more easily.” folgen means “to follow.” It is an infinitive after the modal verb kann: man kann ... folgen (“one can ... follow”). In German, folgen takes a dative complement, which is why Schild appears as den Schildern rather than an accusative form. Together, Oben sets the location, kann man expresses general possibility, den Schildern folgen means “follow the signs,” and leichter compares the ease of doing so. The complete meaning is: “The signs are easier to follow upstairs.”