Breakdown of Der Lärm soll sofort aufhören!
sofort
immediately
sollen
should / ought to
der Lärm
the noise
aufhören
to stop (doing something)
Questions & Answers about Der Lärm soll sofort aufhören!
Why is the verb form soll here?
Der Lärm (the noise) is a singular noun, so it takes the 3rd person singular form (like er, sie, or es). For the modal verb sollen, this form is soll. Notice that with modal verbs in the present tense, the 'I' and 'he/she/it' forms are always exactly the same!
Doesn't sollen usually mean "should"? Why is it translated as "is supposed to"?
Yes, sollen is often translated as "should". However, it fundamentally expresses an expectation, duty, or a command from someone else. In an exclamation like this, "is supposed to" captures the forceful, demanding tone of the speaker better than a gentle "should".
aufhören (to stop) is a separable verb. Why isn't the auf separated at the end of the sentence?
Separable verbs only split when they are the conjugated verb in the second position of the sentence. Because we are using the modal verb soll in position 2, the main verb (aufhören) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full, unseparated dictionary form.
How would this sentence look if we removed soll and just said "The noise stops immediately"?
Without the modal verb, aufhören becomes the main conjugated verb. It moves to the second position and splits! The sentence would become: Der Lärm hört sofort auf. Seeing the contrast highlights exactly how modal verbs change sentence structure.