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Questions & Answers about Der Druck macht mich nervös.
What does Druck mean in this sentence?
Here Druck means pressure in the sense of stress or tension. Although Druck can also refer to printing or physical pressing, the context “macht mich nervös” shows it’s the metaphorical pressure you feel.
Why is der used before Druck?
Druck is a masculine noun in German, so in the nominative case (because it’s the subject) it takes the masculine definite article der. Genders in German often must be memorized with each noun.
What case is mich, and why is it not mir?
Mich is the accusative form of ich. The verb machen here takes a direct object (“makes me”), so you use the accusative. Mir would be dative (indirect object), which you would use with verbs like helfen (“help me”) or danken (“thank me”), but not with machen in this structure.
Why is the adjective nervös used instead of an adverb?
In Der Druck macht mich nervös, nervös is an object complement (a predicate adjective) describing the resulting state of mich. You’re not describing how the action is done (that would need an adverb), but rather what state I end up in: “nervous.”
Why is the word order Der Druck macht mich nervös and not Der Druck mich nervös macht?
German main clauses follow the Verb‑Second (V2) rule: the finite verb (macht) must be the second element. You can move parts around, but the verb stays in position two. Here the subject (Der Druck) is first, then the verb, then the object and complement.
Could you translate this literally into English?
Yes. A word‑for‑word translation is:
• Der Druck → “The pressure”
• macht → “makes”
• mich → “me”
• nervös → “nervous”
Altogether: “The pressure makes me nervous.”
Is there another way to express “I get nervous because of pressure”?
Certainly. For example:
• Ich werde wegen des Drucks nervös. (I become nervous because of the pressure.)
• Ich bin wegen des Drucks nervös. (I am nervous because of the pressure.)
• Der Chef setzt mich unter Druck, und ich werde nervös. (The boss puts me under pressure, and I get nervous.)
Why isn’t there a preposition before Druck?
Here Druck is simply the subject of the sentence, so it stands alone. If you wanted to express “under pressure,” you’d use unter Druck or the genitive wegen des Drucks, but in Der Druck macht mich nervös the pressure itself is doing the “making.”
Can other adjectives follow jemanden … machen in the same way?
Yes, machen is often used as a causative verb with an object and an adjective. Some examples:
• Der Film macht mich traurig. (The movie makes me sad.)
• Musik macht sie glücklich. (Music makes her happy.)
• Lärm macht uns wütend. (Noise makes us angry.)
What’s the difference between Der Druck macht mich nervös and Der Druck nervt mich?
• Der Druck macht mich nervös emphasizes that the pressure causes you to become nervous or anxious.
• Der Druck nervt mich uses the verb nerven (“to get on one’s nerves”), meaning the pressure annoys or irritates you. The focus is more on irritation than on feeling anxious.