Die geschlossene Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler, obwohl die neue Glühbirne hell ist.

Breakdown of Die geschlossene Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler, obwohl die neue Glühbirne hell ist.

sein
to be
neu
new
machen
to make
hell
bright
das Zimmer
the room
dunkel
dark
obwohl
although
geschlossen
closed
die Glühbirne
the light bulb
die Jalousie
the blind

Questions & Answers about Die geschlossene Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler, obwohl die neue Glühbirne hell ist.

Why does geschlossene end in -e?

Because geschlossene is being used like an adjective before the noun Jalousie.

  • Base verb: schließen = to close
  • Past participle: geschlossen = closed
  • Used before a noun, it behaves like an adjective: the closed blind

Since Jalousie is feminine singular and has the definite article die, German uses the weak adjective ending -e:

  • die geschlossene Jalousie

So this is basically closed turned into an attributive adjective.

Why are both geschlossene and neue written with -e?

For the same grammar reason: both describe a feminine singular noun with the definite article die.

  • die geschlossene Jalousie
  • die neue Glühbirne

In German, after der / die / das, adjectives usually take weak endings. For feminine nominative singular, that ending is -e.

So:

  • die geschlossene Jalousie
  • die neue Glühbirne

follow the same pattern.

What exactly does Jalousie mean here?

Here, Jalousie means a window blind or venetian blind.

It does not mean jealousy in German, even though it looks similar to the French/English word. The German word for jealousy is Eifersucht.

So in this sentence:

  • die geschlossene Jalousie = the closed blind
Why is it macht das Zimmer dunkler? Why is das Zimmer in that form?

Because machen here uses an accusative object:

  • etwas macht etwas dunkler
  • something makes something darker

So:

  • Die geschlossene Jalousie = subject
  • macht = verb
  • das Zimmer = direct object
  • dunkler = result/state

A useful pattern is:

  • X macht Y + adjective

Examples:

  • Der Regen macht die Straße nass.
  • Die Musik macht mich ruhig.
  • Die Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler.

Also, das Zimmer looks the same in nominative and accusative because Zimmer is neuter:

  • nominative: das Zimmer
  • accusative: das Zimmer
Why is it dunkler and not dunkle or dunkles?

Because dunkler is a comparative adjective used predicatively, not directly before a noun.

Here it means darker:

  • dunkel = dark
  • dunkler = darker

In the sentence, it is part of the structure:

  • macht das Zimmer dunkler = makes the room darker

When adjectives are used this way, they do not take normal adjective endings like -e, -es, -en, etc.

Compare:

  • ein dunkles Zimmer = an adjective before a noun, so it gets an ending
  • Das Zimmer ist dunkel. = predicate adjective, no ending
  • Die Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler. = comparative predicate adjective, no ending
Why is macht in second position, but ist goes to the end?

This is one of the most important word-order rules in German.

In the main clause, the conjugated verb goes in second position:

  • Die geschlossene Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler

In the subordinate clause introduced by obwohl, the conjugated verb goes to the end:

  • obwohl die neue Glühbirne hell ist

So the sentence has:

  1. Main clause: Die geschlossene Jalousie macht das Zimmer dunkler
  2. Subordinate clause: obwohl die neue Glühbirne hell ist

This is very typical German word order.

What does obwohl do in the sentence?

Obwohl means although or even though. It introduces a contrast.

So the idea is:

  • the blind makes the room darker
  • although the new light bulb is bright

It shows that the second fact does not prevent the first one.

Grammar point:

Why is hell used for the light bulb?

Because hell often means bright in German.

So:

  • hell = bright / light
  • dunkel = dark

In this sentence:

  • die neue Glühbirne hell ist = the new light bulb is bright

German uses hell very naturally for brightness:

  • Das Zimmer ist hell. = The room is bright.
  • Die Lampe ist hell. = The lamp is bright.

So even though hell can also mean light-colored, here it clearly means bright.

Why is Glühbirne feminine?

Because nouns in German have grammatical gender, and Glühbirne happens to be feminine:

  • die Glühbirne = the light bulb

There is not always a logical reason you can see from the English meaning; gender is something you usually learn together with the noun.

In this sentence, that feminine gender affects:

  • the article: die
  • the adjective ending: neue

So:

  • die neue Glühbirne
Could German also say Das geschlossene Rollo... instead of Die geschlossene Jalousie...?

Yes, depending on the exact kind of window covering.

German has several related words:

  • die Jalousie = usually a blind, often with slats
  • das Rollo = a roller blind / shade
  • der Vorhang = curtain

So Jalousie is correct if the object is a blind. If the meaning were specifically a roller blind, Rollo might sound more natural.

The grammar would change with the noun:

  • Die geschlossene Jalousie
  • Das geschlossene Rollo

Notice that the article changes because Rollo is neuter.

Is geschlossene Jalousie singular or plural?

It is singular.

You can tell from:

  • the article die, which here is feminine singular
  • the noun Jalousie, which is singular

The plural would be:

  • die geschlossenen Jalousien

So:

  • die geschlossene Jalousie = the closed blind
  • die geschlossenen Jalousien = the closed blinds
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German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.

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