Im Büro heißt es, die neuen Arbeitsblätter lägen schon neben dem Tacker auf dem Tisch.

Yes, heißen often means to be called, as in Ich heiße Anna.

But in the fixed expression es heißt, it means something like:

• it is said
• people say
• the word is

So Im Büro heißt es is a reporting phrase. It introduces information that is being passed around in the office, without saying exactly who said it.

The es here is an impersonal or dummy subject. It does not refer to a specific thing.

That is why the verb is singular: heißt, not heißen.

So the structure is not built around die neuen Arbeitsblätter. That noun belongs to the following reported statement:

• Im Büro heißt es = people say in the office
• die neuen Arbeitsblätter lägen ... = that the new worksheets are supposedly lying ...

Yes. German follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

Here, Im Büro is placed in the first position for emphasis or context. Once that first slot is filled, the finite verb must come next:

• Im Büro = position 1
• heißt = position 2
• es = then the subject-like element

So:

• Im Büro heißt es ...

If you started with Es, you could also say:

• Es heißt im Büro, ...

But the original sounds more natural if you want to set the scene first: In the office...

German often introduces reported speech in two ways:

1. with dass
2. without dass, using Konjunktiv instead

Here, the sentence uses the second option.

So instead of:

• Im Büro heißt es, dass die neuen Arbeitsblätter ... liegen.

you get:

• Im Büro heißt es, die neuen Arbeitsblätter lägen ...

This style is especially common in written German and in formal/reporting language. It can sound slightly more concise and more clearly like reported information.

Because this is indirect speech.

German often uses a subjunctive form in reported speech to show that the speaker is reporting information rather than confirming it as a fact.

Here, lägen signals:

• this is what is being said
• the speaker is not necessarily guaranteeing it personally

If you used liegen instead, the sentence would sound more like a straightforward factual statement.

Formally, lägen is a Konjunktiv II form.

However, in indirect speech it is being used as a substitute for Konjunktiv I.

Why? Because for liegen, the Konjunktiv I plural form is:

• sie liegen

But that looks exactly like the normal indicative:

• sie liegen

To avoid confusion, German often switches to Konjunktiv II:

• sie lägen

So in this sentence, lägen is functioning as an indirect-speech form, even though its shape is Konjunktiv II.

Yes, roughly.

Using lägen creates a bit of distance between the speaker and the information. It suggests:

• this is what people are saying
• I am reporting it, not fully endorsing it

So the sentence does not sound as direct as:

• Die neuen Arbeitsblätter liegen schon neben dem Tacker auf dem Tisch.

That would sound like the speaker knows it as a fact.

With lägen, the speaker is passing along office information, rumor, or second-hand knowledge.

Because neben and auf are two-way prepositions.

With these prepositions:

• dative = location, no movement
• accusative = direction, movement toward somewhere

Here the worksheets are already in a place, so German uses dative:

• neben dem Tacker = next to the stapler
• auf dem Tisch = on the table

Compare:

• Die Blätter liegen auf dem Tisch. = They are lying on the table.
• Ich lege die Blätter auf den Tisch. = I put the sheets onto the table.

Same preposition, different case because the meaning changes.

Here schon means already or by now.

It suggests that the worksheets are there earlier than expected, or that their presence there is now established.

Depending on context, schon can sound like:

• already
• by now
• as it turns out

So it adds a small time-related nuance, not a big grammatical one.

Yes, and they fit together perfectly.

They describe location at two different levels:

• auf dem Tisch = the general location
• neben dem Tacker = the more precise position within that location

So the meaning is basically:

• the worksheets are on the table
• more specifically, they are next to the stapler

German often stacks location phrases like this.

The singular is:

• das Arbeitsblatt

The plural is:

• die Arbeitsblätter

A few things to notice:

• It is a compound noun: Arbeit
  • Blatt
• The final part, Blatt, determines the gender, so the whole word is neuter: das Arbeitsblatt
• In the plural, Blatt becomes Blätter, so the compound becomes Arbeitsblätter

This kind of plural with an umlaut is very common in German.