Breakdown of Du musst nach dem Frühstück leise spielen.
du
you (informal singular)
spielen
to play
müssen
to have to, must
das Frühstück
the breakfast
nach
after (in time)
leise
quiet / quietly
Questions & Answers about Du musst nach dem Frühstück leise spielen.
Why does the sentence use dem Frühstück instead of das Frühstück?
The preposition nach strictly requires the Dative case. Because breakfast is a neuter noun (das Frühstück), the word das changes to dem in the Dative case.
Doesn't nach usually mean 'to', like going to a city?
nach is a very flexible word! When you talk about places, like cities or countries, it means 'to' (for example, nach Berlin). But when you talk about time or events, like nach dem Frühstück, it translates to 'after'. No matter which meaning you use, it always forces the following noun into the Dative case.
Why is the verb spielen at the very end of the sentence?
This happens because of the modal verb musst (must). In German, when a conjugated modal verb is in the second position of the sentence, the main action verb (spielen) gets pushed to the very end in its basic dictionary form.
Why doesn't leise have an ending here?
In this sentence, leise describes how the playing happens, which means it is acting as an adverb (quietly). In German, adverbs never take grammatical endings. You simply use the base dictionary form of the word.
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