Die Stichfrage wird nach der Quizrunde aufgelöst.

Because Stichfrage is a feminine noun in German, so its nominative singular article is die.

• die Stichfrage = the tie-breaker / deciding question

A useful tip: in German, the gender of a compound noun is determined by the last part of the word. Here the last part is Frage, and die Frage is feminine, so the whole compound is feminine too:

• die Frage
• die Stichfrage

It is a compound noun, which is very common in German.

It is made up of:

• Stich
• Frage

The most important part for grammar is the final part, Frage, which tells you the gender and the basic category of the word.

German often builds precise meanings by combining nouns into one word, so Stichfrage is written as one single word, not as separate words.

This is the present passive in German.

The pattern is:

• werden
  • past participle

So here:

• wird = form of werden
• aufgelöst = past participle of auflösen

That gives:

• wird aufgelöst = is resolved / is revealed / is settled

So the sentence is focusing on what happens to the tie-breaker question, not on who does it.

Compare:

• Man löst die Stichfrage nach der Quizrunde auf.
  = Someone resolves/reveals the tie-breaker question after the quiz round.

• Die Stichfrage wird nach der Quizrunde aufgelöst.
  = The tie-breaker question is resolved/revealed after the quiz round.

No. That is a very common point of confusion.

Here, wird is not future tense. It is part of the passive voice.

• wird aufgelöst = is resolved / is revealed
• not will be resolved in the usual future sense

German werden can be used for both:

1. future
2. passive

You tell the difference from the structure:

• Sie wird kommen. = She will come.
  (werden

  • infinitive)

• Die Stichfrage wird aufgelöst. = The tie-breaker question is resolved.
  (werden

  • past participle)

Because German often uses a verb bracket in main clauses.

In this sentence:

• wird goes in the normal conjugated-verb position
• aufgelöst goes to the end

So the structure is:

• Die Stichfrage | wird | nach der Quizrunde | aufgelöst

This split structure is very typical in German with:

• separable verbs
• perfect tense
• passive
• modal constructions

Even though auflösen is one dictionary verb, in forms like this its participle aufgelöst appears at the end.

Because nach takes the dative case when it means after in a time expression.

So:

• die Quizrunde = nominative
• nach der Quizrunde = dative after nach

Since Quizrunde is feminine, its dative singular article is der:

• die Quizrunde
• nach der Quizrunde

So this part simply means after the quiz round.

Because der is not always masculine. It can also be the dative singular form of a feminine noun.

Here is the pattern for die Quizrunde:

• nominative: die Quizrunde
• accusative: die Quizrunde
• dative: der Quizrunde
• genitive: der Quizrunde

So in nach der Quizrunde, the article changes because of the case, not because the noun changed gender.

Yes. German normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• Quizrunde = quiz round

This is completely standard German spelling. English often separates such words, but German usually combines them.

Other similar examples:

• Fußballspiel = football match
• Hausaufgabe = homework
• Fernsehsendung = TV program

The sentence follows a common German main-clause pattern:

1. subject
2. finite verb
3. other information
4. final verbal element

So here:

• Die Stichfrage = subject
• wird = finite verb
• nach der Quizrunde = time phrase
• aufgelöst = past participle at the end

You can think of it as:

• The tie-breaker question | is | after the quiz round | resolved

That final position for aufgelöst may feel unusual to an English speaker, but it is very normal in German.

Both verbs can relate to solving something, but auflösen often has the sense of:

• revealing
• settling
• resolving
• announcing the answer to something

In quiz or game contexts, auflösen is often used when the correct answer or outcome is finally made known.

By contrast, lösen more directly means to solve a problem, puzzle, or question.

So in this sentence, auflösen sounds natural because it suggests that the tie-breaker question will be settled or revealed after the quiz round.

Yes. An active version would be something like:

• Man löst die Stichfrage nach der Quizrunde auf.

That means roughly:

• They resolve/reveal the tie-breaker question after the quiz round
• or more naturally in English, The tie-breaker question is resolved after the quiz round

German often uses the passive when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context. That is why the passive version sounds very natural here.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• Stichfrage ≈ shtikh-frah-guh
• Quizrunde ≈ kvits-roon-duh

A few details:

• st at the beginning of a German syllable is often pronounced like sht
• ch in Stich is the soft sound heard in ich
• final -e in words like Frage and Runde is usually a light uh sound, not a strong ee

If you want to sound natural, keep the stress roughly on:

• STICH-frage
• QUIZ-runde