Breakdown of Am Bühnenrand wartet die Vorband auf den Soundcheck.
auf
on
warten
to wait
am
at
die Vorband
the supporting act
Questions & Answers about Am Bühnenrand wartet die Vorband auf den Soundcheck.
Why does the sentence start with Am Bühnenrand instead of the subject?
German often puts a time/place/detail element first to set the scene. Here, Am Bühnenrand comes first for emphasis, and the finite verb still has to stay in second position.
So:
- Am Bühnenrand = position 1
- wartet = position 2
- die Vorband = comes after the verb
That is why you get:
Am Bühnenrand wartet die Vorband auf den Soundcheck.
A more neutral version would be:
Die Vorband wartet am Bühnenrand auf den Soundcheck.
Both are correct.
What does am mean here?
Am is a contraction of an dem.
So:
- an dem Bühnenrand → am Bühnenrand
This is very common in German.
Here it means something like:
- at the edge of the stage
- by the stage edge
Why is it am Bühnenrand and not something else like an den Bühnenrand?