Breakdown of Das Publikum wartet geduldig, während die Bühne vorbereitet wird.
werden
to become
vorbereiten
to prepare
während
while
warten
to wait
die Bühne
the stage
das Publikum
the audience
geduldig
patiently
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Questions & Answers about Das Publikum wartet geduldig, während die Bühne vorbereitet wird.
Why is Das Publikum treated like a singular noun (not plural) here?
Although Publikum refers to a group of people, it’s a collective noun in German and takes a singular verb form. Hence das Publikum wartet (not warten).
Why is there a comma before während?
während here is a subordinating conjunction introducing a dependent clause (die Bühne vorbereitet wird). German requires a comma before any subordinate clause.
Why does während send the verb to the end in die Bühne vorbereitet wird?
In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb goes to the very end. So after während, you place die Bühne, then the participle vorbereitet, and finally the auxiliary wird.
How is the passive voice formed in wird vorbereitet?
German passive is built with a form of werden + the past participle of the main verb. Here vorbereiten → past participle vorbereitet, so wird vorbereitet = “is being prepared.”
Why does vorbereitet not start with ge- like other participles?
For separable-prefix verbs (like vorbereiten), the ge- goes between the prefix and the stem: vor‑ge‑bereitet, which is spelled vorbereitet.
What part of speech is geduldig, and why does it come after wartet?
Here geduldig is used adverbially to describe the manner of waiting. In German, such adverbial modifiers usually follow the conjugated verb: wartet geduldig.
Why isn’t the agent (the person doing the preparing) mentioned in wird vorbereitet?
In German passive constructions, the agent can be omitted if it’s unknown or unimportant. If you wanted to specify, you could add von jemandem (“by someone”).
Is während always used for “while”? How does it differ from als or wenn?
während indicates two actions happening simultaneously. als is used for single events in the past (“when one thing happened”), while wenn is for repeated events or conditional clauses.