Wir warten vor dem Geschäft.

We are waiting in front of the shop.

Breakdown of Wir warten vor dem Geschäft.

• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• wir: we
• vor: in front of
• warten: to wait
• das Geschäft: the shop

Questions & Answers about Wir warten vor dem Geschäft.

Why is it wir warten and not something like wir wartet or wir wartest?

In German, the verb ending changes depending on the subject (who is doing the action).

The verb here is warten (to wait). In the present tense:

• ich warte – I wait
• du wartest – you wait (singular, informal)
• er/sie/es wartet – he/she/it waits
• wir warten – we wait
• ihr wartet – you (plural, informal) wait
• sie warten – they wait
• Sie warten – you (formal) wait

For wir (we), the verb always takes the ending -en, so:

wir warten

not wir wartet or wir wartest.

What does wir tell me about the grammar of the sentence?

Wir is the 1st person plural nominative pronoun in German. That means:

• person: 1st (speaker)
• number: plural (more than one person)
• case: nominative (subject of the sentence)

So wir is the subject of the sentence, the ones doing the action (waiting).
If you change wir, you must also change the verb form:

• Ich warte vor dem Geschäft. – I am waiting …
• Sie warten vor dem Geschäft. – They are waiting …

Why is it vor dem Geschäft and not vor das Geschäft?

The difference is about location vs. movement with the preposition vor.

Vor is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition).
It uses:

• dative (dem) for location (where something/someone is)
• accusative (das/den/etc.) for direction/movement (where something is going to)

In your sentence:

• Wir warten vor dem Geschäft.
  → We are located in front of the shop (no movement).
  → dative → dem Geschäft

Compare:

• Wir gehen vor das Geschäft.
  → We go (move) to the area in front of the shop.
  → accusative → das Geschäft

So:
vor dem Geschäft = in front of the shop (staying there)
vor das Geschäft = (moving) to in front of the shop

What is dem and why is it used here?

Dem is the dative singular definite article for masculine and neuter nouns.

The noun Geschäft is neuter:

• das Geschäft – the shop (nominative)

With the preposition vor and a location, we need the dative case:

• vor dem Geschäft – in front of the shop

So:

• nominative: das Geschäft
• dative: dem Geschäft (after vor, with location)

What gender is Geschäft, and how does it change with articles?

Geschäft is neuter in German.

Singular with the definite article (the):

• Nominative: das Geschäft – the shop (subject)
• Accusative: das Geschäft – the shop (direct object)
• Dative: dem Geschäft – to/at/in front of the shop
• Genitive: des Geschäfts – of the shop

Plural:

• die Geschäfte – the shops (nominative & accusative)
• den Geschäften – to/at the shops (dative)
• der Geschäfte – of the shops (genitive)

In your sentence we need dative singular after vor (location), so: dem Geschäft.

What is the difference between vor dem Geschäft and im Geschäft?

They describe different locations:

• vor dem Geschäft
  → literally in front of the shop, i.e. outside, in the area before the entrance.

• im Geschäft
  → short for in dem Geschäft, meaning inside the shop.

So:

• Wir warten vor dem Geschäft. – We are waiting outside / in front of the shop.
• Wir warten im Geschäft. – We are waiting inside the shop.

Is Geschäft the same as “shop,” or is it more like “business”?

Geschäft can mean both, depending on context:

1. Shop / store (physical place where goods are sold)

   • Das Geschäft macht um 9 Uhr auf. – The shop opens at 9.

2. Business / deal / transaction

   • Er hat ein gutes Geschäft gemacht. – He made a good deal.

For everyday “shop/store,” you might also hear der Laden:

• Wir warten vor dem Laden. – We are waiting in front of the shop.

In your sentence, Geschäft is best understood as shop / store.

Why is Geschäft capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.

Geschäft is a noun, so it must be written with a capital G:

• das Geschäft
• vor dem Geschäft
• im Geschäft

This rule applies to every noun:

• der Tisch, die Stadt, das Auto, die Leute, etc.

Can I change the word order and say Vor dem Geschäft warten wir? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is completely correct and very natural.

German allows relatively flexible word order, as long as the verb is in the second position in main clauses.

Both are fine:

1. Wir warten vor dem Geschäft.
   → Subject first (neutral word order).

2. Vor dem Geschäft warten wir.
   → Emphasis on the location (where we are).

In both cases, the conjugated verb (warten) stays in second position in the clause.

When do I use warten vor and when warten auf?

They express different ideas:

• warten vor

  • place → where you are waiting
    Wir warten vor dem Geschäft.
    → We are (physically) standing in front of the shop waiting.

• warten auf

  • accusative → what/who you are waiting for
    Wir warten auf den Bus.
    → We are waiting for the bus.

You can combine them:

• Wir warten vor dem Geschäft auf den Bus.
  → We are waiting in front of the shop for the bus.

Is warten a regular (weak) verb, and how is it conjugated?

Yes, warten is a regular (weak) verb. In the present tense:

• ich warte
• du wartest
• er/sie/es wartet
• wir warten
• ihr wartet
• sie warten
• Sie warten

Past tense (Präteritum):

• ich wartete
• du wartetest
• er/sie/es wartete
• wir warteten
• ihr wartetet
• sie warteten

Past participle (used with haben):

• hat gewartet – has waited
  Wir haben vor dem Geschäft gewartet. – We waited in front of the shop.

Can wir warten also mean “we will wait,” like a future meaning?

Yes. In German, the present tense can often express a near future, especially when the context makes it clear:

• Wir warten morgen vor dem Geschäft.
  → We will wait in front of the shop tomorrow.

If you want to emphasize the future more strongly, you can use werden + infinitive:

• Wir werden vor dem Geschäft warten.
  → We will wait in front of the shop. (more explicitly future)

But in everyday speech, the simple present tense plus a time expression (like morgen, später, um 5 Uhr) is very common for future actions.

How do I pronounce wir warten vor dem Geschäft correctly?

Key points:

• wir – like English veer, but with a shorter i (not like “weir”).
• warten – WAR-ten
  
  • a as in “father” (shorter)
  • r is lightly rolled or tapped (depending on region).
• vor – like for but with a more rounded o, similar to British “for.”
• dem – like English dame but with a shorter e (closer to “dehm”).
• Geschäft – ge-SCHÄFT
  
  • ge-: like guh (short, unstressed)
  • sch: like English sh
  • ä: similar to the e in “bed”
  • ft at the end is pronounced clearly: “f+t”

Stress pattern:

• wir WARTEN vor dem GeSCHÄFT

The main stresses are on WARTEN and -SCHÄFT.