Der Motor macht ein lautes Geräusch.

The motor makes a loud noise.

Breakdown of Der Motor macht ein lautes Geräusch.

• laut: loud
• machen: to make
• das Geräusch: the noise
• der Motor: the motor

Questions & Answers about Der Motor macht ein lautes Geräusch.

Why is Geräusch capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized regardless of their position in the sentence. Geräusch is a noun and therefore always written with an initial capital letter.

What gender is Geräusch and how do I know?

Geräusch is neuter (das Geräusch). Unfortunately, there is no single rule that covers every German noun, so you should learn the article together with the noun or check a dictionary. Some endings like -chen, -lein or -ment are reliably neuter, but in most cases you just have to memorize them.

Why is it ein lautes Geräusch and not ein laut Geräusch?

Here laut is an attributive adjective modifying Geräusch. Because Geräusch is neuter singular and functions as a direct object (accusative) after the indefinite article ein, the adjective must take the -es ending, resulting in lautes.

What case is ein lautes Geräusch in?

It’s in the accusative case because it acts as the direct object of the verb macht. The structure is subject (Der Motor) – verb (macht) – direct object (ein lautes Geräusch).

Why do we use machen here instead of tun?

German uses machen with many nouns to mean “to make” or “to produce” something (for example Lärm machen, einen Fehler machen). tun means more generally “to do” and does not collocate with Geräusch in this sense.

In English we say the engine makes loud noise without an article. Why is ein necessary in German?

English treats noise as an uncountable noun and often drops the article. German Geräusch is countable in the singular, so it normally requires an article. If you want to speak about noise in general without an article, you could use the plural Geräusche (Der Motor macht Geräusche) or switch to Lärm (Der Motor macht Lärm).

What is the difference between Geräusch and Lärm?

Geräusch denotes any sound or noise and is neutral in tone. Lärm specifically refers to an unpleasant, often disturbing noise.

How do I ask in German what noise the engine makes?

You can say Welches Geräusch macht der Motor? or more conversationally Was für ein Geräusch macht der Motor?.