All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| öffnen | make open; begin daily access | doors, files and opening hours | öffnete; hat geöffnet; sich öffnen |
| eröffnen | inaugurate, start or establish | a new shop, meeting or account | inseparable er-; hat eröffnet |
öffnen
Meaning and usage: Use öffnen for opening a window, package, book or digital file. It also applies to daily opening hours: the bakery opens at seven. Sich öffnen describes something becoming open, including a door or a person opening up emotionally. Therefore, öffnen is broader than physical movement alone.
Grammar: Weak verb: öffnete, hat geöffnet. A thing that someone opens is accusative: die Tür öffnen. In reflexive uses, the pronoun matches the subject: Die Tür öffnet sich. A business can also öffnen without an object.
Bitte öffnen Sie die Datei im Anhang.
Please open the attached file.
Die Bäckerei öffnet jeden Morgen um sieben.
The bakery opens every morning at seven.
Die Tür hat sich von selbst geöffnet.
The door opened by itself.
eröffnen
Meaning and usage: Use eröffnen for launching a shop or exhibition, officially beginning a meeting, or establishing an account. It can also mean disclosing information to someone or opening up possibilities. In specialist legal or medical contexts there are further senses, so context must guide the translation.
Grammar: Inseparable er-; eröffnete, hat eröffnet. The launched or established thing is accusative. In jemandem etwas eröffnen, meaning reveal information, the recipient is dative. Sich eröffnen can describe possibilities becoming available.
Im Mai eröffnen wir ein kleines Café.
We are opening a small café in May.
Ich möchte ein Konto eröffnen.
I would like to open an account.
Die Vorsitzende eröffnete die Sitzung.
The chair opened the meeting.
Overlap and context
Das Café öffnet morgen may refer to tomorrow’s opening hours or, in a suitable announcement, the start of operations. Das Café wird morgen eröffnet makes an inauguration clearer. Do not label every use of öffnen for a new business incorrect. Similarly, new opportunities may sich öffnen or sich eröffnen. Learn account-opening and meeting-opening as collocations, while allowing ordinary overlap.
Common mistakes
- For a bank account, learn ein Konto eröffnen rather than mechanically translating open with öffnen.
- Use geöffnet and eröffnet as different participles; neither needs an extra ge- before er-.
- Do not replace Fenster öffnen with Fenster eröffnen in ordinary household speech.
Memory aid: A door opens; a business begins; an account is established. Think öffnen for access and eröffnen for a formal start, then check specialist or figurative contexts separately.
Try it
A café has operated for years. Its daily hours start at eight. Complete: Das Café ___ jeden Tag um acht.
Show the answer
öffnet
The sentence concerns daily access, not inaugurating the café. Eröffnet would suggest beginning or establishing something rather than its ordinary opening hours.