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Die Person wartet am Bahnhof.

Die Person wartet am Bahnhof.
The person is waiting at the train station.
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Questions & Answers about Die Person wartet am Bahnhof.

Why is it die Person and not das Person or der Person?
  • In German, Person is grammatically feminine, so the nominative singular article is die: die Person.
  • der Person is the dative or genitive singular form (e.g., mit der Person, wegen der Person).
  • das Person is incorrect.
  • Plural: die Personen.
Why is the verb wartet and not warte or warten?
  • The subject die Person = third person singular, so the present tense of warten is wartet.
  • Quick conjugation (present):
    • ich warte
    • du wartest
    • er/sie/es wartet
    • wir warten
    • ihr wartet
    • sie/Sie warten
What exactly does am mean, and which case is used in am Bahnhof?
  • am = contraction of an dem.
  • an is a two‑way preposition. With location (no movement), it takes the dative: an dem Bahnhof = am Bahnhof.
  • Here, Bahnhof is masculine; the dative singular article is dem.
Should it be warten auf something/someone? Why is there no auf here?
  • warten by itself = to wait (focus on the act).
  • To say what you’re waiting for, use auf + accusative:
    • Die Person wartet am Bahnhof auf den Zug.
  • In the given sentence, only the location is mentioned, so no auf is needed.
What’s the difference between am Bahnhof, im Bahnhof, beim Bahnhof, and auf dem Bahnhof?
  • am Bahnhof: at/by the station area (outside or nearby; vague about being inside).
  • im Bahnhof: inside the station building.
  • beim Bahnhof: near/at the vicinity of the station; often used for nearby places (e.g., beim Bahnhof gibt es ein Café).
  • auf dem Bahnhof: regionally/older; today many speakers prefer am/im Bahnhof. For “on the platform,” say auf dem Bahnsteig.
Can I front the place and say Am Bahnhof wartet die Person?
  • Yes. German is verb‑second: one element (here, the place) can be moved to the front, and the finite verb stays in second position:
    • Am Bahnhof wartet die Person.
    • Jetzt wartet die Person am Bahnhof.
    • Die Person wartet jetzt am Bahnhof.
If I replace die Person, which pronoun do I use?
  • Grammatically, Person is feminine, so use sie (she), regardless of the actual person’s gender:
    • Sie wartet am Bahnhof.
  • Don’t confuse sie (she/they) with formal Sie (you). Only the capitalized Sie means “you (formal).”
Does wartet mean “is waiting” as well as “waits”?
  • Yes. German present tense covers both simple and progressive aspects:
    • Die Person wartet am Bahnhof. = “The person waits/is waiting at the station.”
  • You can add aspect words for emphasis:
    • Die Person wartet gerade/im Moment am Bahnhof.
Is die Person natural here? How would I say “Someone is waiting at the station”?
  • Die Person sounds formal or specific (e.g., in reports). In everyday speech, say:
    • Jemand wartet am Bahnhof. (Someone is waiting…)
    • Eine Person wartet am Bahnhof. is possible but more neutral/formal.
How do I say it in the plural: “The people are waiting at the station”?
  • Most natural: Die Leute warten am Bahnhof.
  • More formal/official: Die Personen warten am Bahnhof.
How do I negate it or ask a yes/no question?
  • Negation (deny the location): Die Person wartet nicht am Bahnhof.
  • Yes/no question (invert subject and verb): Wartet die Person am Bahnhof?
What about movement vs. location with an? Would “to the station” be an den Bahnhof?
  • With movement, two‑way prepositions take the accusative: an den Bahnhof is grammatically fine but uncommon.
  • Idiomatic German normally uses zu + dative for “to” with places:
    • Die Person geht/fährt zum Bahnhof. (zu dem = zum)
  • Location (no movement): am/im Bahnhof (dative).
How do I say it in the past or future?
  • Spoken past (Perfekt): Die Person hat am Bahnhof gewartet.
  • Simple past (Präteritum): Die Person wartete am Bahnhof. (more common in writing)
  • Future: Die Person wird am Bahnhof warten. (Often the present with a time word is enough: Die Person wartet morgen am Bahnhof.)
Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?
  • w in wartet sounds like English v: [ˈvaʁtət].
  • The r is the German uvular sound.
  • Bahnhof has long vowels: [ˈbaːnhoːf]. The h lengthens the preceding vowel.
  • Die Person: [diː pɛʁˈzoːn].
  • Whole sentence (one standard pronunciation): [diː pɛʁˈzoːn ˈvaʁtət am ˈbaːnhoːf].
Why are Person and Bahnhof capitalized?
  • All nouns are capitalized in German: die Person, der Bahnhof. Verbs and adjectives are not (unless they’re nominalized).
Is Bahnhof the same as “station”? Are there related words I should know?
  • Bahnhof = railway station.
  • Useful related terms:
    • Hauptbahnhof (Hbf.) = main station
    • Bahnsteig = platform
    • Gleis = track
    • U‑Bahnhof = subway/metro station; S‑Bahnhof = suburban rail station
    • Haltestelle = (bus/tram) stop
Can I use erwarten instead of warten auf?
  • erwarten + accusative means “to expect,” often with a nuance of scheduled/anticipated arrival:
    • Die Person erwartet den Zug am Bahnhof.
  • warten auf + accusative focuses on the act of waiting:
    • Die Person wartet am Bahnhof auf den Zug.
  • In everyday contexts, warten auf is the default for “to wait for.”
What cases are in this sentence?
  • Die Person: nominative (subject; feminine).
  • am Bahnhof: dative object of the preposition an indicating location (an dem Bahnhof → am Bahnhof).