Word
Das Öffnen der Tür macht Lärm.
Meaning
Opening the door makes noise.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Das Öffnen der Tür macht Lärm.
die Tür
the door
machen
to make
der Lärm
the noise
das Öffnen
the opening
Questions & Answers about Das Öffnen der Tür macht Lärm.
Why is Öffnen capitalized here? I thought only nouns are capitalized in German.
Öffnen is capitalized because here it is being used as a noun, not as a normal verb.
- As a verb: Ich öffne die Tür. – I open the door. (lowercase)
- As a noun (a “nominalized infinitive”): Das Öffnen der Tür – the opening of the door (capitalized)
German often turns infinitive verbs (öffnen, lernen, essen, etc.) into nouns by:
- Capitalizing them, and
- Usually putting das in front (because these noun-forms are always neuter).
So das Öffnen literally means “the opening” (the act of opening).
What exactly is das in this sentence, and why is it neuter?