Breakdown of Wegen der Vorschrift wird hier streng gearbeitet.
hier
here
arbeiten
to work
streng
strict
wegen
because of
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
die Vorschrift
the regulation
Questions & Answers about Wegen der Vorschrift wird hier streng gearbeitet.
Where is the subject in this sentence? Why isn't there an es?
This is an impersonal passive sentence, which describes an action happening without focusing on who is doing it. Normally, to fill the first position of the sentence, you might use a dummy subject: Es wird hier streng gearbeitet. However, because this sentence puts the prepositional phrase Wegen der Vorschrift in position 1, the dummy es drops out completely. The conjugated verb wird stays in position 2, and the sentence proceeds with no subject at all!
How does wird... gearbeitet translate to "Work is done"?
In German, you can form a passive sentence from verbs that don't take a direct object (like arbeiten). This is called the impersonal passive. Instead of using the active voice with a general subject like man (Man arbeitet hier streng), the impersonal passive shifts the focus entirely to the action itself. The literal feeling is 'Working is being done'.
Is der Vorschrift in the dative case here?
It might look like the dative, but it is actually the genitive case! The preposition wegen (because of) requires the genitive case in standard German grammar. Because Vorschrift (regulation/rule) is a feminine noun (die Vorschrift), its definite article changes to der in the genitive.
Why is gearbeitet at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the passive voice, which is built using a conjugated form of the auxiliary verb werden plus a past participle. According to standard German word order for main clauses, the conjugated verb (wird) takes the second position, and the past participle (gearbeitet) is pushed to the very end of the clause to form the verb bracket.
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