Das Einkaufszentrum öffnet früh.

The shopping centre opens early.

Breakdown of Das Einkaufszentrum öffnet früh.

• früh: early
• öffnen: to open
• das Einkaufszentrum: the shopping centre

Questions & Answers about Das Einkaufszentrum öffnet früh.

Why is it das Einkaufszentrum and not der or die Einkaufszentrum?

Because Einkaufszentrum is a neuter noun in German, so it takes the article das.

A useful clue is the last part of the compound noun:

• das Zentrum = the center

In German compound nouns, the last part usually determines the grammatical gender of the whole word. Since Zentrum is neuter, Einkaufszentrum is also neuter:

• das Zentrum
• das Einkaufszentrum

Why is Einkaufszentrum written as one long word?

German often combines smaller words into compound nouns.

Here, Einkaufszentrum is made from:

• der Einkauf = shopping / purchase
• das Zentrum = center

So the whole noun means a shopping center or shopping mall.

This is very normal in German. Instead of separating words like English often does, German usually joins them into one noun.

What case is das Einkaufszentrum in here?