Wir stehen an, und die Mitarbeiterin lässt uns durch.

We queue, and the staff member lets us through.

Breakdown of Wir stehen an, und die Mitarbeiterin lässt uns durch.

• und: and
• wir: we
• uns: us
• die Mitarbeiterin: the female staff member

Questions & Answers about Wir stehen an, und die Mitarbeiterin lässt uns durch.

Why is an separated from stehen in Wir stehen an?

Because the full verb is anstehen, which is a separable verb.

In a main clause, the conjugated part goes to the usual verb position, and the prefix moves to the end:

• anstehen = to queue / to line up / to be in line
• Wir stehen an. = We are queueing.

You would see it together in forms like:

• Wir müssen anstehen.
• Ich will nicht anstehen.

There, anstehen stays together because it is in the infinitive.

Does anstehen literally mean to stand on?

No. Even though stehen means to stand and an can have meanings like at, on, or up, the separable verb anstehen has its own meaning.

Here, anstehen means:

• to queue
• to stand in line
• to wait in line

So you should learn anstehen as a whole vocabulary item, not by translating each part literally.

Why does German use stehen here instead of a verb meaning wait?