Breakdown of Beim Meditieren hilft das Schweigen.
helfen
to help
beim
at the (bei + dem)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
schweigen
to be silent
Questions & Answers about Beim Meditieren hilft das Schweigen.
Why do we use Beim Meditieren to mean "While meditating"?
In German, a very common way to express "while doing something" is to use bei + dem (contracted to beim) followed by a verb turned into a noun. Because the verb acts as a noun here, it's treated like an event you are attending—literally "at the meditating".
Why are both Meditieren and Schweigen capitalized?
They are nominalized infinitives—verbs that have been turned into nouns. In German, any infinitive verb used as a noun is always capitalized and always takes the neuter article das. In this sentence, we have das Meditieren (hidden inside the contraction beim) and das Schweigen.
Does das Schweigen mean "keeping silent" or "the silence"?
It can mean both! The verb schweigen means "to be silent" or "to not speak". When turned into a noun, it directly means the act of "keeping silent", which translates naturally to "silence" in English. Nominalizing verbs is a great way to talk about the abstract idea of an action.
Why does the verb hilft come before the subject das Schweigen?
This is because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The first position in this statement is occupied by the entire prepositional phrase Beim Meditieren. To keep the verb in the second position, hilft comes next, which pushes the subject (das Schweigen) right after the verb.