main round
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main round
A central stage in a tournament or competition that takes place after a qualifying or preliminary round and in which the decisive contests are played.
Nach dem Sieg in der Vorrunde zog die Mannschaft in die Hauptrunde der Weltmeisterschaft ein.
After the victory in the preliminary round, the team advanced to the main round of the World Cup.
The word consists of 'Haupt-' (main) and 'Runde' (round). The prefix 'Haupt-' means the 'most important' or 'central' part. A Hauptrunde is therefore the most important round of a competition.
Der Hauptbahnhof ist der wichtigste Bahnhof einer Stadt.
The main train station is the most important station in a city.
In a sports context, 'Hauptrunde' (main round) is often combined with certain verbs and prepositions: you can 'sich für die Hauptrunde qualifizieren' (qualify for the main round), 'in die Hauptrunde einziehen' (advance to the main round), or 'in der Hauptrunde spielen' (play in the main round).
Die deutsche Mannschaft hat sich für die Hauptrunde qualifiziert.
The German team qualified for the main round.
This word is used almost exclusively in the context of sports, tournaments, or games. It refers to a phase after the first qualification stage (the preliminary round).
Nur die besten acht Spieler erreichen die Hauptrunde des Tennisturniers.
Only the best eight players reach the main round of the tennis tournament.
preliminary round
'die Vorrunde' and 'die Hauptrunde' refer to different stages of a competition. The preliminary round comes first and often serves to make a selection or reduce the number of participants. The main round comes after that and is the central, more important part of the tournament. The words can be confused because neither necessarily refers to the final, but rather to rounds within a competition. As a guide: in the preliminary round, you are often fighting to move on; in the main round, the games are already more decisive.
Nach dem Sieg steht unser Team in der Hauptrunde des Turniers.
After the win, our team is in the main round of the tournament.
In der Vorrunde musste die Mannschaft gegen drei starke Gegner spielen.
In the preliminary round, the team had to play against three strong opponents.