Learn Hardcore German: Das Gegenteil von schwer ist leicht.

In German, all nouns are capitalized, so Gegenteil (a noun) is capitalized.
schwer and leicht are adjectives here, and adjectives are lowercased unless they are substantivized (turned into nouns) or begin a sentence.

Why is it das Gegenteil and not der or die?

The noun Gegenteil has neuter gender in German, so it takes the article das.
Singular: das Gegenteil; plural: die Gegenteile.

What case does von take, and why isn’t schwer inflected here?

von always governs the dative case (e.g., von dem Mann → vom Mann).
In this sentence, schwer is being mentioned as a word (metalinguistically), not used as a noun phrase. When you mention a word itself, you don’t inflect it: von schwer.
If you substantivize the adjective, you would inflect it: vom Schweren (dative), meaning “the opposite of the difficult/weighty (thing).”

Could I write vom instead of von here?

Not in the given form. vom is a contraction of von dem, which requires a following noun phrase (e.g., vom Schweren).
With the bare word as a label (von schwer), you must use von.

Would it be correct (and more formal) to say Das Gegenteil vom Schweren ist das Leichte?

Yes. That version substantivizes both adjectives:
- vom Schweren = “of the difficult/heavy (thing)”
- das Leichte = “the easy/light (thing)”
It sounds more formal or abstract. The original sentence is the simplest, most common teaching form.

Can I add visual markers to make it clear I’m talking about the words?

Yes, you’ll often see: Das Gegenteil von „schwer“ ist „leicht“.
Bold, italics, or quotation marks help show you’re mentioning the words themselves.

Does schwer mean both “heavy” and “difficult,” and does leicht mean both “light (weight)” and “easy”?

Yes. schwer = “heavy” (weight) or “difficult.” leicht = “light (weight)” or “easy.” Context disambiguates:
- Die Tasche ist schwer/leicht. (heavy/light)
- Die Aufgabe ist schwer/leicht. (difficult/easy)

What’s the difference between schwer and schwierig? And between leicht and einfach?

schwer can mean “heavy” or “difficult.” schwierig only means “difficult,” never “heavy.”
leicht can mean “light (weight)” or “easy.” einfach means “simple/easy,” not “light (weight).”
For “easy,” both leicht and einfach work; einfach emphasizes simplicity, leicht emphasizes low difficulty/effort.

Can I say Leicht ist das Gegenteil von schwer?

Why doesn’t leicht get an ending after ist?

After forms of sein (to be), adjectives used predicatively stay uninflected: ist leicht, ist schwer, ist interessant (no endings).

Could I use zu instead of von (like “opposite to”)?

The fixed expression is das Gegenteil von. das Gegenteil zu is rare and sounds nonstandard in many contexts.
Be careful: im Gegensatz zu is another set phrase meaning “in contrast to,” which is different from “the opposite of.”

How do I pronounce schwer and leicht?

schwer: roughly “shvair.” IPA: /ʃveːɐ̯/.
leicht: roughly “lye-cht,” with the soft German “ch” as in ich. IPA: /laɪ̯çt/.
Tip: schw is “shv,” and ei sounds like English “eye.”

Is saying nicht schwer the same as leicht?

Not exactly. nicht schwer means “not difficult/heavy,” which could be neutral or mildly challenging. leicht suggests it’s genuinely easy/light.
Similarly, nicht leicht means “not easy,” but not necessarily “difficult” (schwer).

Are there set phrases related to Gegenteil I should know?

What’s the difference between Gegenteil and Gegensatz?

das Gegenteil: the direct opposite (antonym) of something.
der Gegensatz: a contrast or opposition between two things, not necessarily strict logical opposites.
Example: warm/kalt are Gegenteile; Stadt/Land are often viewed as Gegensätze.

Can I use the genitive instead of von?

With nouns, yes: das Gegenteil des Problems (genitive).
With adjectives, you’d need to substantivize: das Gegenteil des Schweren (more formal/abstract).
In everyday language, das Gegenteil von … is most common.