Die untere Taste macht die Lautstärke leiser.

The lower button turns the volume down.

Breakdown of Die untere Taste macht die Lautstärke leiser.

• machen: to make
• die Lautstärke: the volume
• die Taste: the button
• untere: lower
• leiser: quieter

Questions & Answers about Die untere Taste macht die Lautstärke leiser.

What exactly does the adjective untere mean here? Is it “lower” or “bottom”?

untere means “lower” (the lower one of at least two items). If you want to say “lowest/bottommost,” use the superlative unterste.

• With two buttons stacked vertically: die untere Taste = the lower (i.e., bottom) button.
• With three or more: use die unterste Taste for the very bottom one.
  Opposite: die obere Taste (“the upper button”); superlative: die oberste Taste (“the topmost button”).

Why is it untere and not unteren? How do the endings work?

Because Taste is feminine and the subject (nominative), and with the definite article die, the adjective takes the ending -e: die untere Taste.
A few quick contrasts:

• Nominative feminine: die untere Taste
• Accusative feminine: die untere Taste
• Dative feminine: der unteren Taste
• Nominative masculine: der untere Knopf
• Accusative masculine: den unteren Knopf
• Dative masculine: dem unteren Knopf

What is leiser doing in this sentence, and why is it at the end?

leiser is the comparative form of the adjective leise (“quiet”). Here it’s a predicative complement (an object complement) after machen:
Pattern: Subject + machen + object + predicative adjective → Die untere Taste macht die Lautstärke leiser.
In a subordinate clause, the verb goes to the end: …, dass die untere Taste die Lautstärke leiser macht.

Should it be leiserer instead of leiser?

No. leiserer is an attributive form (used before a noun): ein leiserer Ton (“a quieter tone”).
After machen/werden/sein (predicative use), you use the base comparative without an extra ending: macht … leiser, wird leiser, ist leiser.

Is macht … leiser idiomatic for volume? What are natural alternatives?

Yes, very idiomatic. Common alternatives:

• Die untere Taste verringert/senkt/reduziert die Lautstärke.
• With a person as the subject: Stell die Lautstärke leiser.
• With a knob/slider: Dreh/Regle die Lautstärke runter.

Can I also say Die Lautstärke wird leiser?

Yes, but that describes a change of state without saying who or what causes it.

• Cause expressed (your original): Die untere Taste macht die Lautstärke leiser.
• No explicit cause: Die Lautstärke wird leiser.

Why do both nouns have die? Are they plural?

No—both are feminine singular nouns: die Taste and die Lautstärke. That’s why you see die for each in nominative (subject) and accusative (object), respectively.

Could I drop the article and say Untere Taste macht die Lautstärke leiser?

Not in normal prose. Countable nouns in German generally need a determiner. You might see article-less labels in UIs or on diagrams (e.g., a caption: Untere Taste: macht die Lautstärke leiser), but in a full sentence you’d keep the article.

What’s the difference between Taste, Knopf, Schalter, and Regler?

• Taste: a push-button or key (remote control, keyboard, elevator button).
• Knopf: can be a push-button or a small round control; sometimes a rotary knob (context-dependent).
• Schalter: a switch (toggle/rocker that stays on/off).
• Regler: a control you adjust continuously (slider, dial, fader).

When should I use verbs like drehen, stellen, or runterdrehen instead?

Use them when the control is something you adjust (knob/slider) or when a person is the agent:

• Person as subject: Stell die Lautstärke leiser. / Dreh die Lautstärke runter.
• With a button as subject, prefer: Die (untere) Taste macht/verringert/senkt … rather than stellt … leiser.

Is Die untere Taste stellt die Lautstärke leiser acceptable?

It’s understandable but less natural with Taste as the subject. Better:

• Die untere Taste macht/verringert/senkt die Lautstärke.
  With a person as subject, leiser stellen is very common: Ich stelle die Lautstärke leiser.

Can I say macht die Lautstärke runter?

No, that’s not idiomatic. Use leiser with machen, or use runterdrehen with a knob/slider:

• macht die Lautstärke leiser
• dreht die Lautstärke runter

Is there a difference between die untere Taste and die Taste unten?

Both can refer to the lower/bottom button.

• die untere Taste: neutral, standard attributive adjective.
• die Taste unten: uses the adverb unten; can feel a bit more colloquial or spatially descriptive (“the button down below”). In many contexts they’re interchangeable.

Could I say niedriger/geringer/kleiner/ruhiger instead of leiser for volume?

• The default, idiomatic choice is leiser for sound/volume.
• geringere/niedrigere Lautstärke can appear in technical or descriptive contexts before a noun, but macht die Lautstärke geringer/niedriger is uncommon in everyday speech.
• kleiner for volume is nonstandard; you’d say leiser stellen, not typically kleiner stellen (though some speakers use it).
• ruhiger means “calmer” and is not used for volume.

How would I say the opposite?

• Die obere Taste macht die Lautstärke lauter.
  You can also say: Die obere Taste erhöht/steigert die Lautstärke.

What are the cases/roles of the words in the sentence?

• Die untere Taste: nominative feminine singular (subject).
• macht: 3rd person singular present of machen.
• die Lautstärke: accusative feminine singular (direct object).
• leiser: comparative adjective used predicatively (object complement).