Breakdown of Dann verabschieden wir uns vom Publikum.
wir
we
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
dann
then
das Publikum
the audience
Questions & Answers about Dann verabschieden wir uns vom Publikum.
Why do we use vom instead of just von?
vom is a short form of von + dem. The verb for 'to say goodbye' is sich verabschieden von. The preposition von always requires the dative case. Since Publikum is a neuter noun (das Publikum), its dative article is dem. The words von and dem naturally squish together into vom.
Why is the word uns in this sentence?
In German, 'to say goodbye' is a reflexive verb: sich verabschieden. You can think of it literally as 'we excuse ourselves' or 'we take our leave'. Because the subject is wir (we), you must use the matching reflexive pronoun uns (ourselves).
Why is the word order verabschieden wir and not wir verabschieden?
This is because of the V2 (verb second) rule. In a standard German sentence, the main verb must always take the second position. Since the sentence starts with the word Dann (Then) in position one, the verb verabschieden takes position two, pushing the subject wir into position three.
Does Publikum act as a singular or plural noun?
Grammatically, das Publikum (the audience) is a singular, neuter noun, even though it refers to a whole group of people. This is just like in English, but German is very strict about treating collective nouns like this as purely singular for articles and verb endings.