Breakdown of Die Schule fängt um halb acht an.
acht
eight
um
at (time)
anfangen
to start
die Schule
the school
Questions & Answers about Die Schule fängt um halb acht an.
Wait, why does "halb acht" mean "half past seven"?
In German, halb looks forward to the next hour. You can think of halb acht as "halfway to eight" (which is 7:30). If you wanted to say 8:30, you would say halb neun (halfway to nine). This is a very common trap for English speakers!
Why do we use the word "um" here?
Whenever you want to say that something happens "at" a specific time on the clock, you use the word um. So, "at half past seven" is um halb acht, and "at eight o'clock" would be um acht Uhr.
Why is the word "an" all the way at the end of the sentence?
The verb for "to start" is anfangen. This is a "separable verb." When you use it in a standard sentence, the prefix (an) splits off and jumps to the very end, while the main part (fängt) takes the normal verb position right after the subject (Die Schule).
Why does "fängt" have an umlaut (ä) here?
The verb anfangen has a vowel change. For "he", "she", or "it" subjects (like die Schule), the a changes to an ä. So you would say ich fange an (I start), but die Schule fängt an (the school starts).