Learn Hardcore German: Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar, schauen wir auf den Aushang neben dem Büro. - If something in the semester schedule is unclear, we look at the notice next to the office.

The pattern is:
Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar, schauen wir auf den Aushang …
≈ Wenn im Semesterplan etwas unklar steht, (dann) schauen wir auf den Aushang …
So the first clause (Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar) means “If something in the semester plan is unclear …”, not a question.
German can drop wenn in such sentences and just use verb‑first to signal a condition. This is more common in written or somewhat formal German.
It’s not a question because:
- The intonation is falling (in speech), like a statement.
- It is immediately followed by another clause that gives the result (schauen wir …).

So: verb‑first does not always mean “question” in German; here it means “if …”.

Why is it schauen wir and not wir schauen in the second part?

In main clauses, German normally wants the finite verb in second position (V2 rule).

When you put a clause (for example, a conditional clause) before the main clause, that whole first clause counts as the “first position”. After that, the verb of the main clause must come next:

Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar, schauen wir auf den Aushang …
- First position: the entire first clause (Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar)
- Second position: schauen (finite verb of the main clause)
- Then: wir (subject)

This is the same inversion you see after a fronted adverbial:

Heute gehen wir ins Kino. (not Heute wir gehen …)

So after a preceding clause, you normally get …, machen wir …, not …, wir machen ….

What does steht mean here? I thought stehen means “to stand”.

stehen can mean “to stand” (physically), but it also has an important idiomatic meaning related to written text:

In dem Buch steht, dass … = The book says that …
In der Zeitung steht, dass … = It says in the newspaper that …

In this sentence, stehen is used in that sense:

Im Semesterplan steht … ≈ It says in the semester plan … / In the semester plan it is written …

So Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar … is roughly:

“If something is (written) unclearly in the semester plan …”
or “If something in the semester plan is unclear …”

It is not about something physically “standing” in the plan; it’s about information being written there.

Does etwas unklar mean “something unclear” or “a bit unclear”?

It can be understood in two ways, and that’s why this wording feels a bit ambiguous or slightly unusual.

etwas as a pronoun (“something”):
- “If something in the semester plan is unclear …”
- Then unklar describes that “something”.
- In more careful written German, you would often see:
  - Steht im Semesterplan etwas Unklares, …
    (etwas + adjective often appears as etwas Unklares, with the adjective taking an ending.)
etwas as an adverb (“somewhat / a bit”):
- “If [it is] a bit unclear in the semester plan, …”
- Here etwas is like ein bisschen, modifying unklar.

In casual everyday language, many speakers will simply say etwas unklar and let the context decide whether they mean “something is unclear” or “it is a bit unclear”.

Safer and clearer alternatives:

Ist im Semesterplan etwas unklar, … (“If something is unclear in the semester plan…”)
Ist der Semesterplan etwas unklar, … (“If the semester plan is a bit unclear…”)
Wenn im Semesterplan etwas unklar ist, … (fully explicit with wenn and ist).

What exactly is im Semesterplan? Why im and not in der or in dem?

im is simply the contraction of in dem.

Noun: der Semesterplan (masculine, nominative)
Dative singular: dem Semesterplan
Preposition: in
- dative (because it’s location: inside the plan, not movement into it)
  → in dem Semesterplan

In everyday German, in dem commonly contracts to im:

in dem Semesterplan → im Semesterplan
in dem Haus → im Haus

So im Semesterplan literally means “in the semester plan” (in the written schedule/document).

Why is it auf den Aushang schauen? What does auf do here, and why accusative?

With verbs of looking, German often uses auf + accusative to mean “look at”:

auf den Aushang schauen / sehen / gucken = “to look at the notice”
auf den Bildschirm schauen = “to look at the screen”
auf die Uhr schauen = “to look at the clock / watch”

Here:

auf is a two‑way preposition (Wechselpräposition).
With direction/target (where your eyes go), it normally takes the accusative.
- auf den Aushang (accusative, masculine: den)

If you used auf + dative with a location (no movement), you would be saying something like “on the notice” in a static sense, but with schauen the idea is “direct your gaze to X”, which is treated as a direction/target.

So auf den Aushang schauen is the natural way to say “look at the notice”.

What is an Aushang exactly? Is it just any kind of paper?

der Aushang is a posted notice, usually something official or semi‑official that is:

pinned to a notice board,
taped to a door,
stuck on a wall in a hallway, etc.

Typical examples:

office hours of a professor,
exam dates,
schedule changes,
rules for using a room.

A few rough comparisons:

Aushang – official notice/posting (often at institutions, offices, universities).
Plakat – poster (larger, often for advertising or events).
Zettel – small piece of paper, note (more general, informal).
Ankündigung – announcement (more abstract; could be spoken or written).

So der Aushang neben dem Büro is the official notice posted next to the office door.
Plural: die Aushänge.

Why is it neben dem Büro and not neben das Büro?

neben is another two‑way preposition. It can take either dative or accusative:

Dative → location (where something is).
Accusative → movement (where something is going to).

Here it is a location: the notice is located next to the office.

neben dem Büro (dative: dem) = “next to the office” (position)
Compare: Ich gehe neben das Büro (accusative: das) = “I walk to a spot next to the office” (movement)

So neben dem Büro is correct because it describes where the Aushang is, not movement towards it.

Is Semesterplan the same as Stundenplan?

They are related but not exactly the same:

der Semesterplan usually refers to the overall plan for a semester:
- which courses are offered,
- important dates (registration deadlines, exam periods),
- sometimes a rough schedule for the whole term.
der Stundenplan is more like a weekly timetable:
- a grid showing which class is at which time on which day,
- often a personal or class timetable (Monday 10–12, Tuesday 8–10, etc.).

In practice, there can be overlap in how people use the words, but Semesterplan tends to be bigger‑picture, semester‑wide, and Stundenplan is your repeated weekly schedule.

Could I also say Wenn im Semesterplan etwas unklar ist, schauen wir auf den Aushang neben dem Büro? Is that more natural?

Yes, that version is perfectly correct and very natural:

Wenn im Semesterplan etwas unklar ist, schauen wir auf den Aushang neben dem Büro.

Differences in feel:

Wenn … ist, …:
- fully explicit with a conjunction (wenn) and ist.
- feels neutral and is extremely common in both spoken and written German.
Steht im Semesterplan etwas unklar, …:
- omits wenn and uses verb‑first.
- stylistically a bit more compact and slightly more written / formal.
- also emphasizes more that the problem lies in how something is written in the plan.

Many learners will find the wenn … ist version easier to recognize as a conditional sentence; Germans use both, but the original is a somewhat more stylistic or formal variant.

Can I use sehen instead of schauen here? Are schauen, sehen, and gucken different?

In this sentence, you can replace schauen with sehen or gucken, but there are nuances:

schauen – neutral, common especially in southern Germany and Austria.
- auf den Aushang schauen is idiomatic.
sehen – often more about the result (“to see”) than the act of looking.
- auf den Aushang sehen is understood and acceptable, but sounds a bit less idiomatic than schauen or gucken in some regions.
gucken – more colloquial, very common in northern and western Germany.
- auf den Aushang gucken = “have a look at the notice”.

Typical everyday wording:

Dann schauen wir auf den Aushang.
Dann gucken wir auf den Aushang.
Or more idiomatic alternatives: Dann schauen wir am Aushang nach. / Dann schauen wir auf den Aushang neben dem Büro.

So, schauen is a good neutral choice here; sehen works but is slightly less typical in this exact collocation, and gucken is fine in casual speech.