Breakdown of Entschuldigung, wo ist der Bus?
sein
to be
wo
where
der Bus
the bus
Entschuldigung
excuse me; sorry
Questions & Answers about Entschuldigung, wo ist der Bus?
Entschuldigung is a really long word! Can I use it both to apologize and to get someone's attention?
Yes! Just like "excuse me" in English, you can use Entschuldigung to politely get a stranger's attention before asking a question, or to say "sorry" if you bump into someone. To say it easily, try breaking it into chunks: ent-schul-di-gung.
Does the word wo mean "who" or "where"?
It means "where". This is a very common trap for English speakers because wo sounds a lot like "who". If you actually want to ask "who" in German, you have to use the word wer.
Why does the verb ist come right after wo?
In German questions that start with a question word (like wo, was, or wie), the verb always takes the second position in the sentence. So the question word wo is in position one, and the verb ist comes right next, before the subject der Bus.
Why do we use der for the bus? Can I just use das?
You have to use der because the word Bus is a masculine noun in German. Every noun has a grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and you cannot swap their "the" words. It is always best to learn every new noun with its matching article: der Bus.