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Questions & Answers about Reisen macht neugierig.
Why is Reisen capitalized?
In German, you can turn an infinitive verb into a noun—this is called a nominalized infinitive. All German nouns, including nominalized infinitives, are capitalized. So Reisen here is not the verb “to travel,” but the noun “travel” or “travelling.”
Why do we say Reisen macht instead of Reisen machen?
Even though Reisen ends in -en, it’s treated as a singular noun when nominalized. Therefore the verb agrees in the 3rd person singular: macht rather than machen.
Why is there no article before Reisen? Couldn’t we say Das Reisen macht neugierig?
Yes—you can say Das Reisen macht neugierig, and that’s perfectly correct. Omitting the article, however, is a common way to express a general statement about the concept of travel. Without das, the sentence feels broader: “Travel makes you curious” in a general sense.
What role does neugierig play in this sentence? Why doesn’t it have an adjective ending?
Here neugierig is part of the verb construction neugierig machen (“to make curious”). It’s a predicative adjective functioning as the result of the action. Predicative adjectives in German remain in their base form and do not take endings.
Who is curious? The sentence has no object specifying a person.
It’s an impersonal, general statement: travel makes people curious in general. If you want to specify, you can add an object or pronoun, e.g. Reisen macht mich neugierig (“Travel makes me curious”) or Reisen macht die Leute neugierig.
Could you use a different verb or phrasing to express the same idea?
Yes. You might say Reisen weckt Neugier (“Travel awakens curiosity”) or Reisen interessiert (though interessieren normally needs an object: Reisen interessiert mich).
Are there other common examples of nominalized infinitives used as subjects?
Absolutely. Examples include:
- Lesen bildet. (“Reading educates.”)
- Schwimmen entspannt. (“Swimming relaxes.”)
- Kochen macht Spaß. (“Cooking is fun.”)
If I wanted to emphasize a specific trip, how would I change the sentence?
You’d replace the abstract noun with a concrete reference, e.g. Diese Reise macht mich neugierig (“This trip makes me curious”) or Eine Reise nach Japan macht neugierig (“A trip to Japan makes you curious”).