Breakdown of Der Reisende muss lange in der Botschaft warten.
in
in
müssen
to have to, must
lange
for a long time, long
warten
to wait
der Reisende
the traveler
die Botschaft
the embassy
Questions & Answers about Der Reisende muss lange in der Botschaft warten.
Why is the word for traveler Der Reisende and not Der Reisender?
Reisende is a nominalized participle. This means it comes from a verb (reisen, to travel) turned into an adjective (reisend, traveling), and is used here as a noun (the traveling person). Because it still behaves like an adjective, it takes adjective endings. After the masculine definite article der, the correct nominative ending is -e, making it der Reisende. If it used the indefinite article, it would be ein Reisender.
Why doesn't the word lange change its ending here?
In this sentence, lange acts as an adverb meaning 'for a long time,' describing how long the traveler must wait. Unlike adjectives that describe nouns, adverbs don't take grammatical endings in German, so it stays exactly as lange.
Why is it in der Botschaft if the noun is feminine (die Botschaft)?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because the traveler is just waiting at a fixed location (answering the question 'Where?'), it takes the dative case. The feminine dative article is der, which gives us in der Botschaft.
Why is the main verb warten at the very end of the sentence?
This is due to the modal verb muss (must/has to). In standard German sentences, the conjugated modal verb takes the second position, and the main action verb (warten) gets pushed all the way to the end in its basic infinitive form.
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