Managing a Long Wait | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich bin wohl noch lange nicht an der Reihe.

   My turn still seems a long way off.

   Ich bin

   I am

   wohl

   probably; seemingly

   noch lange nicht

   still far from it

   an der Reihe

   one’s turn

   More detail

   Ich bin uses the first-person singular present form of sein (“to be”): ich bin = “I am.” The infinitive is sein; other present forms include du bist (“you are”) and sie ist (“she is” / “it is”). Example: Ich bin bereit. — “I am ready.” wohl presents the statement as the speaker’s assessment rather than as an entirely certain fact. In this sentence, “seemingly” or “probably” fits the intended meaning. Here it is not the adjective/adverb wohl meaning “well.” Example: Er kommt wohl später. — “He’ll probably come later.” noch lange nicht combines noch (“still/yet”), lange (“a long time”), and nicht (“not”). Together, they mean that the relevant point has still not been reached and is not expected soon: “still a long way off” or literally “not for a long time yet.” Example: Der Zug ist noch lange nicht da. — “The train is still a long way from arriving.” an der Reihe is the reusable expression an der Reihe sein, meaning “to be one’s turn” or “to be next in a sequence.” Reihe is a feminine noun meaning “row” or “sequence”; in this expression it appears as der Reihe, the dative singular form after an in a static state. Example: Jetzt bist du an der Reihe. — “Now it’s your turn.” Putting the parts together, Ich bin identifies the speaker, wohl marks the assessment as probable, noch lange nicht says that the point has not been reached and is not near, and an der Reihe specifies that point as the speaker’s turn. The whole utterance means: “My turn still seems a long way off.”

2. Ich muss bald woanders sein.

   I need to be somewhere else soon.

   Ich muss

   I need to; I must

   bald

   soon

   woanders

   somewhere else

   sein

   be

   More detail

   Ich muss means “I need to” or “I must” here. muss is the first-person singular present form of müssen; the subject Ich identifies the speaker. In a main clause, müssen is the conjugated modal verb, while the other verb stays in the infinitive: Ich muss gehen = “I need to go.” The context determines whether the obligation sounds like a necessity or a firm requirement; this sentence presents it as the speaker’s need. bald means “soon,” referring to a time not far in the future. It is an adverb and does not change form. Example: Ich komme bald. — “I’ll come soon.” woanders means “somewhere else,” that is, in a different place from the relevant current or expected place. It is an adverb, so it does not take noun-case or gender endings. Example: Wir treffen uns woanders. — “We’ll meet somewhere else.” sein means “to be.” It is the infinitive used after the modal verb muss: muss ... sein = “needs to be.” The same infinitive can follow other modal forms, for example Du musst dort sein. — “You must be there.” Together, Ich muss ... sein expresses the speaker’s need to be somewhere, woanders specifies that the place is elsewhere, and bald places this need in the near future. The complete utterance means: “I need to be somewhere else soon.”

3. Lass mich dir erklären, wie es in der Schlange weitergeht, bevor du entscheidest, ob du bleibst.

   Let me explain how the queue is moving before you decide whether to stay.

   Lass mich

   let me

   erklären

   explain

   Schlange

   queue

   weitergeht

   continues; moves along

   entscheidest

   decide

   bleibst

   stay

   More detail

   Lass mich is a reusable way to offer to do something: Lass mich + infinitive means “Let me + verb.” Lass is the informal singular imperative of lassen; mich is the accusative form of “I/me.” In this sentence, dir adds the recipient: “let me explain to you.” The infinitive erklären means “to explain” and stays unchanged after Lass mich: Lass mich das erklären. — “Let me explain that.” Schlange means “queue” here. Its basic form is feminine die Schlange; in in der Schlange, the article is dative singular because the phrase describes being in a queue. The same noun can mean “snake” in another context, but “queue” is the intended meaning here. weitergeht comes from the separable verb weitergehen, “to continue” or “to move along.” Here it is the third-person singular present form, agreeing with es: wie es ... weitergeht — “how it continues/moves along.” Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by wie, the conjugated verb appears at the end. The prefix weiter- adds the idea of continuation; for example, Wie geht es weiter? means “How does it continue?” entscheidest is the second-person singular present form of entscheiden, “to decide”: du entscheidest. The ending -st marks informal singular “you” in this form. bevor du entscheidest means “before you decide”; bevor introduces a subordinate clause, so entscheidest comes at the end of that clause. bleibst is the second-person singular present form of bleiben, “to stay” or “remain”: du bleibst. The infinitive is bleiben, not bleibst; here the form uses the regular present-tense ending -st, and the stem vowel does not change: bleiben → du bleibst. The phrase ob du bleibst means “whether you stay.” ob introduces an indirect yes-or-no question, and the conjugated verb again comes at the end. Putting the parts together: Lass mich dir erklären = “Let me explain to you”; wie es in der Schlange weitergeht = “how the queue is moving along”; and bevor du entscheidest, ob du bleibst = “before you decide whether to stay.” The complete meaning is: “Let me explain how the queue is moving before you decide whether to stay.”

4. Geht es gleichmäßig voran?

   Is it moving at a steady pace?

   Geht … voran

   make progress

   gleichmäßig

   evenly; at a steady pace

   More detail

   Geht … voran is the separated form of the verb vorangehen, meaning “to make progress” or “to move forward.” In this question, geht is the present-tense form used with the subject es; voran moves to the end of the clause. The construction can describe progress in a process, such as a queue or the handling of requests. Example: Die Arbeit geht voran. — “The work is making progress.” gleichmäßig means “evenly” or “at a steady rate.” It describes progress that does not vary much in speed. Its opposite in this context is ungleichmäßig (“unevenly”), as in Der Prozess läuft ungleichmäßig. — “The process is proceeding unevenly.” Together, Geht es gleichmäßig voran? asks whether the process is progressing at a steady pace. The question does not assert that it is steady; it asks for that information.

5. Heute geht es nicht gleichmäßig voran. Einige Anfragen dauern länger als erwartet.

   The pace is uneven today. Some requests are taking longer than expected.

   Heute

   today

   geht es … voran

   make progress / move forward

   nicht

   not

   gleichmäßig

   steadily / evenly

   Einige

   some / several

   Anfragen

   requests / inquiries

   dauern

   take time / last

   länger

   longer

   als erwartet

   than expected

   More detail

   Heute means “today” and places the situation in the current day. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. Example: Heute arbeite ich zu Hause. — “Today I am working at home.” geht es … voran is a reusable German construction meaning that progress is being made or something is moving forward. The verb is vorangehen (“to move forward, progress”); in this construction, geht is its present-tense form for the third-person singular. es is the grammatical subject of the construction, not a specifically identified person or thing. Example: Die Arbeit geht voran. — “The work is progressing.” nicht supplies the negation. Here it works with gleichmäßig voran: progress is not even or steady. Its exact position can affect what is being negated in other sentences, so it should not automatically be treated as negating the whole sentence in every context. gleichmäßig describes a regular, even manner here. The same form can function as an adjective before a noun or as an adverb modifying an action: ein gleichmäßiges Tempo means “an even pace,” while Sie läuft gleichmäßig. means “She runs steadily.” Einige means “some” or “several” and refers to a plural group without stating an exact number. It is a determiner here and matches the plural noun Anfragen; it does not by itself identify which requests are meant. Example: Einige Fragen sind schwierig. — “Some questions are difficult.” Anfragen is the plural of Anfrage, meaning a request or inquiry. The singular is eine Anfrage; the plural form is Anfragen. Example: Wir beantworten eine Anfrage. — “We are answering an inquiry.” dauern means “to take time” or “to last.” Here it is present tense, third-person plural, agreeing with Einige Anfragen. Its base form is also dauern; the singular form is dauert, as in Die Prüfung dauert lange. — “The exam takes a long time.” länger is the comparative form of lang (“long”). It means “longer” here and compares the time required by some requests with an understood expectation. The comparison pattern is länger als … — “longer than …”. Example: Der Weg ist länger als gedacht. — “The route is longer than thought.” als erwartet completes that comparison: als introduces the standard of comparison, and erwartet comes from erwarten (“to expect”). In this shortened comparison, it means “than expected”; the person or people holding that expectation are not specified. A fuller version could be länger, als wir erwartet haben — “longer than we expected.” Together, Heute geht es nicht gleichmäßig voran says that progress is uneven today. Einige Anfragen dauern länger als erwartet adds that some requests are taking more time than expected. The whole utterance therefore means: “The pace is uneven today. Some requests are taking longer than expected.”

6. Wenn ich kurz weggehe, kann ich dann an dieselbe Stelle zurückkommen?

   If I step away for a moment, can I come back to the same place?

   Wenn

   if / when

   ich

   I

   kurz

   briefly

   weggehe

   step away

   kann ich

   can I

   dann

   then

   dieselbe

   the same

   Stelle

   place

   zurückkommen

   come back

   More detail

   Wenn introduces the condition: “if” or, in a time-related context, “when.” In this sentence it presents the possible condition for the question that follows. A reusable pattern is Wenn ..., .... ich is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It is the subject of weggehe, so the speaker presents themself as the person stepping away. Compare du for “you” when addressing one person. kurz means “briefly” or “for a short time.” Here it limits the duration of stepping away; it does not mean that the movement itself is physically short. Example: Ich warte kurz. — “I’ll wait briefly.” weggehe is the first-person singular present form of weggehen, “to go away” or “to step away.” The prefix weg- is separable in a finite main-clause form: Ich gehe weg. In the Wenn clause, the finite verb appears at the end, so the observed form is weggehe rather than separated gehe ... weg. Example: Wenn ich kurz weggehe, ... — “If I step away briefly, ...” kann ich combines kann, the first-person singular present form of the modal verb können (“can” / “be able to”), with ich. In this question, the modal is placed before the subject: Kann ich ...? The following lexical verb remains in the infinitive. Können can express ability or permission; the fixed translation supports the question about whether returning is allowed or possible here. dann means “then” and links the condition to its consequence: under that condition, what about returning? It does not itself express the permission or ability; that comes from kann ich. dieselbe means “the same” in the sense of identity with the previously relevant place. It is the feminine singular form agreeing with Stelle; its form here is also the form used for feminine accusative. The word selbe is part of the determiner dieselbe, not a separate translation of “same” that can be freely detached. Example: Ich nehme dieselbe Tasche. — “I’ll take the same bag.” Stelle is a feminine noun meaning “place” or “spot” here. Its base form is die Stelle; the phrase an dieselbe Stelle means “to the same place/spot.” German also uses Ort for a place or location, but Stelle can focus more on a particular spot or position. Example: Das Buch liegt an derselben Stelle. — “The book is in the same place.” zurückkommen is the infinitive of zurückkommen, “to come back” or “to return.” With the modal kann, it stays as an infinitive at the end: Kann ich ... zurückkommen? The prefix zurück- contributes the idea of returning to an earlier place or position. Together, Wenn ich kurz weggehe gives the condition “if I step away briefly.” kann ich dann an dieselbe Stelle zurückkommen? asks whether the speaker can then return to that same place. The full utterance therefore asks: “If I step away for a moment, can I come back to the same place?”

7. Du kannst deinen Platz nur behalten, wenn du in der Nähe der Warteschlange bleibst.

   You can only keep your place if you stay close to the line.

   Du kannst

   you can

   Platz

   place

   behalten

   keep

   nur

   only

   wenn

   if

   Nähe

   vicinity

   Warteschlange

   line

   bleibst

   stay

   More detail

   Du kannst means “you can” here. Du addresses one person informally, and kannst is the second-person singular present form of können (“can, be able to”). With a following infinitive, German places the infinitive at the end of the relevant clause: Du kannst ... behalten. Platz means “place” here, specifically the person’s place in the line. It is a masculine noun: der Platz; after deinen, the masculine accusative form is deinen Platz. The possessive identifies the place as belonging to the person being addressed; it does not itself state that the place is a physical seat. behalten means “keep” or “retain.” Its base form is behalten, and it remains an infinitive after the modal verb können. For example: Du kannst dein Ticket behalten. — “You can keep your ticket.” nur means “only.” Together with the following condition, nur wenn creates the reusable pattern “only if”: Du kannst X nur behalten, wenn ... — “You can keep X only if ...” wenn introduces a condition meaning “if.” In a wenn clause, the finite verb normally goes to the end. Here, bleibst is at the end of the clause introduced by wenn. Nähe is the feminine noun die Nähe, meaning “vicinity” or “being near.” The fixed expression in der Nähe means “nearby” or “in the vicinity.” In in der Nähe der Warteschlange, the second der marks the line as the reference point: literally, “in the vicinity of the line.” Warteschlange means “queue” or “line.” It is a feminine noun: die Warteschlange; after der in this expression, its genitive form is also der Warteschlange. The compound is a useful German word for a line of people waiting. bleibst means “stay” here. It is the second-person singular present form of bleiben: du bleibst. For example: Du bleibst hier. — “You stay here.” The form agrees with the subject du; it is not the form used with Sie or with a plural subject. The main clause is Du kannst deinen Platz nur behalten: “You can keep your place only ...” The conditional clause is wenn du in der Nähe der Warteschlange bleibst: “if you stay near the line.” Combined, the utterance means: “You can only keep your place if you stay close to the line.” The condition is expressed with nur wenn, and the verb bleibst comes at the end of the wenn clause.

8. Dann muss ich entscheiden, ob das warten kann.

   Then I need to decide whether this can wait.

   Dann

   then

   muss ich

   I need to / I must

   entscheiden

   decide

   ob

   whether

   das

   this

   warten

   wait

   kann

   can

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here and places the decision in sequence with what came before. It can also refer to a later time in other contexts, but here the temporal/sequence meaning is the useful one. muss ich is the reusable pattern muss + subject: “I must / I need to …”. muss is the first-person singular present form of müssen; the infinitive that completes it comes later. Because Dann occupies the first position, the finite verb comes before the subject: Dann muss ich .... Example: Heute muss ich arbeiten. — “Today I have to work.” entscheiden means “to decide”. It is an infinitive after the modal verb muss. A useful related pattern is sich entscheiden für + noun or sich entscheiden, ob ... when someone makes a choice; this sentence uses the non-reflexive construction etwas entscheiden, with the thing being decided expressed by the following clause. ob introduces an indirect yes-or-no question, here “whether”. In an ob clause, the finite verb normally goes to the end. Compare Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. — “I don’t know whether he is coming.” das is the neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning “this” in the supplied translation. Its specific referent is not stated more precisely in the fixed sentence. As a pronoun, it is separate from the noun-like action expressed by warten; it is not an article before a following noun here. warten means “to wait”. In this sentence it is an infinitive and means that the matter referred to by das can be postponed. German also uses warten auf + accusative when naming what someone is waiting for, as in Ich warte auf den Bus. — “I am waiting for the bus.” That is a different construction from the present use. kann means “can” here. It is the third-person singular present form of können, agreeing with das: das kann. The infinitive warten remains at the end of the ob clause, while the finite modal verb kann occupies the clause-final position: ob das warten kann. Together, Dann muss ich entscheiden means “Then I need to decide”, and ob das warten kann means “whether this can wait”. The whole utterance is therefore: “Then I need to decide whether this can wait.”

9. Wenn dieser Service heute wichtig ist, ist es sicherer, in der Nähe zu bleiben.

   If this service is important today, staying close is the safer choice.

   Wenn

   if

   dieser

   this

   Service

   service

   heute

   today

   wichtig

   important

   ist

   is

   sicherer

   safer

   in der Nähe

   nearby; close by

   zu bleiben

   to stay

   More detail

   Wenn introduces a condition: “if” here, not a question. In a German subordinate clause introduced by wenn, the finite verb normally goes to the end. A reusable pattern is Wenn ..., ... (“If ..., ...”). dieser means “this” and is the masculine nominative form of the demonstrative determiner. It agrees with Service, not with the speaker or listener. The form changes with grammatical gender, case, and number; for example, diese is used with a feminine singular or plural noun in some matching cases. Service is a masculine noun meaning “service.” Its capital letter marks it as a noun in German. In this sentence, dieser Service is the subject of the conditional clause. heute means “today” and places the situation in the current day. It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender, number, or case. wichtig means “important.” Here it is a predicative adjective after ist, describing the service. The basic comparison is wichtig (“important”), wichtiger (“more important”), and am wichtigsten (“most important”). The first ist is the third-person singular present form of sein (“to be”): sein → ist. Because Service is singular, the form is ist, not a plural form. The same form appears again later in the utterance as the finite verb of the main clause. Wenn dieser Service heute wichtig ist means “If this service is important today.” The finite verb ist comes at the end because this is the wenn clause. sicherer means “safer.” It is the comparative form of the adjective sicher (“safe” or “secure”): sicher → sicherer → am sichersten. Here it compares staying nearby with another possible choice; it does not itself specify what the other choice is. in der Nähe means “nearby” or “close by.” Literally, it uses in with the noun Nähe (“vicinity” or “proximity”). In this location expression, in takes the dative, shown by feminine der: in der Nähe. This phrase describes where someone remains, rather than naming a particular referent that is being approached. zu bleiben means “to stay.” bleiben is the base form, and zu bleiben is its infinitive with zu. After a comparative such as sicherer, an infinitive clause can express the action being evaluated: Es ist sicherer, zu warten means “It is safer to wait.” The main clause ist es sicherer, in der Nähe zu bleiben uses es as an anticipatory subject: the fuller idea, in der Nähe zu bleiben, is placed after the adjective. Thus, in der Nähe zu bleiben is the action judged to be safer. Combining both parts gives: “If this service is important today, staying close is the safer choice.”

10. Ich kann der anderen Person schreiben und die Verspätung erklären.

    I can message the other person and explain the delay.

    Ich kann

    I can

    anderen

    other

    Person

    person

    schreiben

    write; message

    Verspätung

    delay

    erklären

    explain

    More detail

    Ich kann combines Ich (“I”) with kann, the present-tense first-person singular form of können (“can; be able to”). The modal expresses ability here. With a modal, the other verb normally appears as an infinitive later in the clause: Ich kann ... schreiben = “I can write/message ...”. anderen means “other” here. Its dictionary form is andere; the observed ending in der anderen Person is -en. This form agrees with the feminine singular noun Person in the dative phrase. The dative marks the recipient of the message here. The ending belongs to anderen, not to Person. Person means “person”. It is a feminine noun in German, and der Person is its definite dative singular form. The complete phrase der anderen Person means “the other person” as the recipient, although English does not show the dative form. schreiben is the infinitive of schreiben, “to write”. With a person as the recipient, it can naturally mean “to write/message the person”. Example: Ich schreibe meiner Freundin. — “I am writing to my friend.” Verspätung means “delay”. It is a feminine noun, and die Verspätung is the accusative phrase used here for the thing being explained. The noun is related to verspäten (“to make late; to delay”), but learn Verspätung as the established noun for a delay. erklären is the infinitive meaning “to explain”. The construction etwas erklären means “to explain something”, so die Verspätung erklären means “explain the delay”. Example: Ich erkläre das Problem. — “I explain the problem.” The modal kann combines with the coordinated infinitives schreiben and erklären. The sentence joins the two actions with und: the speaker can message the other person and explain the delay. Thus the whole utterance means: “I can message the other person and explain the delay.”

11. Das sollte der anderen Person helfen zu verstehen, warum du spät dran bist.

    That should help them understand why you are running late.

    Das

    That

    sollte

    should

    anderen

    other

    Person

    person

    helfen

    help

    zu verstehen

    to understand

    warum

    why

    du

    you

    spät

    late

    dran bist

    are

    More detail

    Das means “that” here and functions as the subject. As a demonstrative pronoun, it points to an already understood situation or action; its specific referent is not named in this sentence. sollte is the form of sollen used here with a third-person singular subject. In this sentence, sollen expresses an expectation or likely result, so sollte is naturally “should.” Compare Das soll helfen (“That is supposed to help”) with Das sollte helfen (“That should help,” often a somewhat less direct expectation). anderen and Person together form der anderen Person, “the other person.” Person is a feminine noun. The article and adjective show dative feminine singular here: die andere Person in the basic form becomes der anderen Person after helfen, because helfen takes a dative recipient or beneficiary. anderen is an inflected form of the adjective andere (“other”); it is not derived from Person. helfen is the infinitive “to help.” German commonly uses helfen with a dative person: Ich helfe der Person means “I help the person.” In this sentence, sollte is the finite verb and helfen remains in the infinitive. zu verstehen means “to understand.” verstehen is the base verb, and zu marks its infinitive in this construction. A useful pattern is jemandem helfen, etwas zu verstehen — “to help someone understand something.” warum introduces an embedded question meaning “why.” In the clause beginning with warum, the finite verb goes to the end: warum du spät dran bist (“why you are running late”). This is different from a direct question such as Warum bist du spät dran? (“Why are you running late?”). du is the informal second-person singular pronoun, “you.” The verb form agreeing with it appears at the end of the embedded clause as bist. spät means “late.” In spät dran sein, it describes being behind the expected schedule. For example, Ich bin spät dran means “I am running late.” dran bist contains the finite form bist of sein together with dran, the shortened colloquial form used in dran sein. In spät dran sein, the whole expression means “to be running late,” not literally “to be on it.” The finite verb is placed at the end of the subordinate clause. Together, Das sollte der anderen Person helfen means “That should help the other person,” and zu verstehen, warum du spät dran bist specifies what the help is for: “to understand why you are running late.” The complete utterance is therefore: “That should help them understand why you are running late.”