Breakdown of Bei der Kontrolle wird nicht gelacht.
lachen
to laugh
nicht
not
bei
at, near, with
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
Questions & Answers about Bei der Kontrolle wird nicht gelacht.
Where is the subject in this sentence? Why isn't there an es?
This is an impersonal passive sentence, which describes an action without a real subject. If we started the sentence with the dummy subject es, it would be Es wird bei der Kontrolle nicht gelacht. But because we moved Bei der Kontrolle to the first position to emphasize it, the dummy es drops out of the sentence entirely!
Why use the passive voice here instead of just saying Man lacht nicht?
The impersonal passive is a very common way in German to express general rules or prohibitions. It puts all the focus on the action itself rather than who is doing it. Bei der Kontrolle wird nicht gelacht sounds like an official, strict rule ('There is no laughing') rather than just a casual observation about what people do.
Why is it der Kontrolle if Kontrolle is a feminine noun?
The preposition bei always requires the dative case. Because Kontrolle is feminine (die Kontrolle), the definite article changes from die to der in the dative case.
The English translation says 'during the inspection.' Why use bei instead of während?
You could also use während (which usually takes the genitive case: während der Kontrolle), but bei plus the dative is a very standard, everyday way to express 'at' or 'during' an ongoing event, process, or situation in German.