Breakdown of Bei der Einreise wird oft lange gewartet.
oft
often
lange
for a long time, long
warten
to wait
bei
at, near, with
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
die Einreise
the entry
Questions & Answers about Bei der Einreise wird oft lange gewartet.
Where is the subject in this sentence? There is no es!
This sentence uses the impersonal passive to emphasize an action without mentioning who is doing it. Normally, an impersonal passive uses the dummy subject es. However, because this sentence starts with the phrase Bei der Einreise instead of the subject, the es is completely dropped. If we rearranged it to start with the subject, it would be: Es wird bei der Einreise oft lange gewartet.
How can the passive voice be used with warten when nobody is 'being waited'?
In English, passive voice usually requires a direct object. German, however, allows you to form an impersonal passive with intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take direct objects). This structure is used to focus entirely on the activity itself. So, wird ... gewartet simply means 'waiting is done' or 'people wait'.
Why is it Bei der Einreise and not another preposition for 'at'?
The preposition bei is used here because it expresses that an action is happening during an event or process. It translates well to 'at the time of' or 'during' entry. Because bei always triggers the dative case, the feminine noun die Einreise becomes der Einreise.
Why does the sentence use lange instead of just lang?
When used as an adverb to describe a duration of time (meaning 'for a long time'), German usually adds an -e to lang to make it lange. While you might hear people drop the -e in casual speech, lange is the standard way to describe how long an action like waiting takes.
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