Breakdown of Der Zug fährt um Viertel vor sieben ab.
sieben
seven
der Zug
the train
um
at (time)
abfahren
to depart
das Viertel
the quarter
vor
before (in time)
Viertel vor
quarter to
Questions & Answers about Der Zug fährt um Viertel vor sieben ab.
How does Viertel vor sieben work?
It literally means 'quarter before seven.' Viertel means 'quarter' and vor means 'before' (or 'to'). Just like in English, it tells us the time is 6:45.
Why do we use um before the time?
The preposition um is used to mean 'at' whenever you are talking about a specific time on the clock. So um Viertel vor sieben is how you say 'at a quarter to seven.'
Why is Viertel capitalized?
In German, Viertel is a noun meaning 'a quarter' (one fourth of an hour). Because every single noun is capitalized in German, Viertel must start with a capital letter.
Why is the word ab sitting all the way at the end of the sentence?
The verb here is abfahren (to depart), which is a 'separable verb'. In a normal statement, the main part of the verb (fährt) takes the second position in the sentence, and the prefix (ab) gets chopped off and pushed to the very end.
Why is the verb spelled fährt with an umlaut (ä)?
The base form of the verb is fahren (to drive/travel). It is an irregular verb that changes its vowel from a to ä for the 'he/she/it' and informal 'you' forms. Since der Zug (the train) acts as a 'he' grammatically, it takes the form fährt.
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