Breakdown of Sie liegt auf der Station neben dem Büro.
das Büro
the office
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
liegen
to lie
neben
next to
die Station
the ward
Questions & Answers about Sie liegt auf der Station neben dem Büro.
Why does the sentence use liegt instead of ist if the translation says 'She is'?
In a medical context, liegen (to lie) is commonly used to say that someone is a patient in a hospital or on a specific ward. While you could say Sie ist auf der Station, using liegt emphasizes that she is admitted to a hospital bed.
Does Station mean 'train station' here?
No. While Station can mean a bus or subway stop, a regular train station is a Bahnhof. In medical contexts, a Station is a hospital ward.
Why do we use auf to say 'on the ward'?
In German, the standard preposition for being on a hospital ward is auf. It is a fixed phrase, so you will almost always hear auf der Station rather than in der Station.
Why are the prepositions auf and neben followed by the dative case here?
Both auf and neben are two-way prepositions. They take the dative case when describing a fixed location (answering the question 'where?'). Since she is already located on the ward, and the ward is already located next to the office, there is no change of location or movement towards a destination. Therefore, both use the dative (der Station and dem Büro).
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