Früher war meine Stadt leise, jetzt ist sie laut.

to be

Breakdown of Früher war meine Stadt leise, jetzt ist sie laut.

• jetzt: now
• die Stadt: the city
• laut: loud

Questions & Answers about Früher war meine Stadt leise, jetzt ist sie laut.

What exactly does früher mean here? Is it like “before”, “earlier”, or “used to”?

In this sentence, früher means in the past / back then / before now.

• It refers to an earlier time in general, not a specific date.
• In English, you might translate the whole idea as:
  • “My town used to be quiet, now it is loud.”

So früher does the job that English often does with “used to” plus a verb, or with “before / in the past”.

Why is the verb war in second position when früher is at the beginning?

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule (V2):

• Exactly one element (subject, time phrase, object, etc.) comes first.
• The conjugated verb comes second.
• The rest of the sentence follows.

In this sentence:

1. Früher = first element (a time adverb)
2. war = conjugated verb in second position
3. meine Stadt leise = the rest

So the structure is:

• Früher (1st element) war (2nd) meine Stadt leise (the rest)

You could also say:

• Meine Stadt war früher leise.

Same meaning, but now meine Stadt is the first element and war is still in second position.