Achte im Wartebereich auf deinen Abstand, damit niemand krank wird.

Pay attention to your distance in the waiting area so that nobody gets sick.

Breakdown of Achte im Wartebereich auf deinen Abstand, damit niemand krank wird.

• auf: on
• werden: to become
• niemand: nobody
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter)
• damit: so that
• krank: sick
• dein: your
• der Abstand: the distance
• der Wartebereich: the waiting area
• achten auf: to keep an eye on

Questions & Answers about Achte im Wartebereich auf deinen Abstand, damit niemand krank wird.

Why does the sentence start with Achte—what form is that?

Achte is the imperative (command) form of the verb achten for du (informal “you”):

• Infinitive: achten
• Imperative (du): Achte! So the sentence is giving an instruction to one person in an informal/direct way.
  Formal version would be: Achten Sie im Wartebereich auf Ihren Abstand, damit niemand krank wird.

What does achten auf mean here, and why is auf used?

auf etw. achten means to pay attention to / to mind / to watch something.
It’s a fixed verb + preposition combination: achten + auf + Akkusativ.

So Achte ... auf deinen Abstand = “Pay attention to / mind your distance.”

Why is it auf deinen Abstand and not something like auf deinem Abstand?

Because auf in the expression auf etw. achten requires the accusative case.
Abstand is masculine (der Abstand), so accusative with dein- becomes:

• Nominative: dein Abstand
• Accusative: deinen Abstand

So deinem (dative) would be ungrammatical in this structure.

What does im Wartebereich mean grammatically, and why is it im?

im is a contraction of in dem:

• in dem Wartebereich → im Wartebereich

Here in expresses a location (“in the waiting area”), so it takes the dative case:

• der Wartebereich (masc.)
• dative: dem Wartebereich → im Wartebereich

Could I also say in den Wartebereich?

Yes, but it would mean something different.
German uses in + dative for location and in + accusative for movement/direction.

• im Wartebereich (= in dem) → “in the waiting area” (already there)
• in den Wartebereich (= accusative) → “into the waiting area” (moving into it)

Your sentence is about behavior while located there, so im Wartebereich fits.

What is damit doing here, and why is there a comma before it?

damit introduces a purpose clause (“so that / in order that”).
German subordinate clauses are normally separated by a comma, so the comma before damit is required.

Structure:

• Main clause: Achte ... auf deinen Abstand,
• Purpose clause: damit niemand krank wird.

Why is the verb wird at the end of damit niemand krank wird?

Because damit starts a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses German typically places the conjugated verb at the end.

So you get:

• niemand krank wird (verb-final)

If it were a main clause, it would be:

• Niemand wird krank. (verb-second)

What does krank wird mean—why not just krank ist?

krank werden means to become ill / to fall sick (a change of state).
krank sein means to be ill (a state).

In this context, the goal is to prevent people from becoming sick, so krank wird is the natural choice.

Why is it niemand and not keiner or jemand?

niemand means nobody and is very common in standard German.

• jemand = “someone”
• niemand = “no one / nobody”

You could also say damit keiner krank wird, which is also common, but niemand is slightly more neutral/standard in signage-style language.

Do I need to worry about noun capitalization in this sentence?

Yes—German capitalizes all nouns:

• Wartebereich (noun)
• Abstand (noun)

Other words stay lowercase here:

• achte (verb form, but capitalized only because it starts the sentence)
• krank (adjective)
• niemand (pronoun)