Breakdown of Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig, danach jubeln sie laut.
Questions & Answers about Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig, danach jubeln sie laut.
vor is one of the so‑called two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen) in German. These can take either:
- Dative → for a location or point in time (no movement/change), or
- Accusative → for a direction/change toward something.
Here, vor der Halbzeit means at the time before halftime (a point in time, no movement), so you must use dative:
- feminine noun die Halbzeit
- dative singular feminine → der
- so: vor der Halbzeit
You would use vor + accusative for movement towards a place, e.g.:
- Er stellt sich vor die Tür. – He positions himself in front of the door. (movement → die Tür, accusative)
German main clauses follow the verb‑second rule: the finite verb (here: bleiben) must be in second position in the clause.
Position 1 can be different types of elements: the subject, an adverb, a prepositional phrase, etc. In this sentence, the time phrase Vor der Halbzeit is moved to the first position for emphasis:
- Vor der Halbzeit – prepositional phrase (time)
- bleiben – verb (must be in second position)
- die Fans ruhig – the rest (subject + predicate adjective)
You could also say:
- Die Fans bleiben vor der Halbzeit ruhig.
Both are grammatically correct. The original version simply emphasizes the time frame (“Before halftime, the fans stay calm...”).
The sentence actually contains two independent main clauses:
- Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig,
- danach jubeln sie laut.
Each clause has its own subject and verb (die Fans – bleiben / sie – jubeln), so they’re joined with a comma, similar to English:
- Before halftime the fans stay calm, afterwards they cheer loudly.
German uses commas more systematically than English, and independent clauses joined without a conjunction (like und, aber) are separated by a comma.
danach is an adverb meaning after that / afterwards / then. It refers back to a time or event mentioned earlier — here: die Halbzeit.
- Vor der Halbzeit ... – before halftime
- danach ... – after that (after halftime)
Difference to nach:
- nach is a preposition and must be followed by a noun (in the dative):
- nach der Halbzeit – after halftime
- danach stands alone as an adverb and does not take a noun:
- Danach jubeln sie laut. – After that, they cheer loudly.
You could rewrite the sentence using nach instead of danach:
- Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig, nach der Halbzeit jubeln sie laut.
Again, this is the verb‑second rule in German main clauses.
- danach is in the first position (time adverb)
- the finite verb (jubeln) must be in second position
- the subject sie must therefore come after the verb.
So the correct order is:
- danach – adverb
- jubeln – verb
- sie – subject
- laut – adverb of manner
danach sie jubeln laut puts the subject before the verb and breaks the verb‑second rule, so it’s ungrammatical in a main clause.
Both are possible, but they don’t mean exactly the same:
sind ruhig – are calm/quiet (describes a state)
- Vor der Halbzeit sind die Fans ruhig.
- Simple statement of how they are.
bleiben ruhig – remain / stay calm/quiet (emphasizes that this state continues)
- Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig.
- Highlights that, during that period, they don’t change from calm to noisy.
So bleiben ruhig implies continuity or persistence of the calmness, which fits nicely with the contrast to danach jubeln sie laut.
German Präsens (present tense) is used more broadly than English present simple. It can describe:
General habits or repeated behaviour
- Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig, danach jubeln sie laut.
- Describes what typically happens.
Scheduled future events (especially with a time indication)
- Morgen spielen wir gegen Bayern. – We’re playing Bayern tomorrow.
In your sentence, the present tense is best understood as describing a typical pattern or general rule about how the fans behave at games.
jubeln is an intransitive verb meaning something like:
- to cheer, to celebrate noisily, to exult
You usually do not use a direct object with jubeln:
- Die Fans jubeln. – The fans cheer.
- Sie jubeln laut. – They cheer loudly.
If you want to say what they cheer for, you normally add a prepositional phrase, not a direct object:
- Die Fans jubeln über das Tor. – The fans cheer about the goal.
- Die Fans jubeln für ihre Mannschaft. – The fans cheer for their team.
So, in your sentence, jubeln stands perfectly fine on its own with an adverb (laut).
die Fans is a plural noun. In German:
- the 3rd person plural pronoun for people/things is sie (lowercase).
So:
- die Fans → sie (they)
In the sentence:
- Vor der Halbzeit bleiben die Fans ruhig, danach jubeln sie laut.
- First clause introduces die Fans
- Second clause refers back to them using sie
Note: Sie with a capital S is the formal “you”, but here it’s lowercase sie, so it clearly means they.
You’re seeing a case change caused by the preposition vor.
Basic form of the noun:
- die Halbzeit – nominative feminine singular
But vor (here: time, not movement) requires the dative case:
- feminine, dative singular article is der
So the forms are:
- Nominative: die Halbzeit
- Dative: der Halbzeit
Hence:
- Vor der Halbzeit – Before halftime.