öffnen

From Middle High German offenen, from Old High German offanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną. Compare Dutch openen and English English open.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔœfnən/
• Hyphenation: öff‧nen
• (Germany)

  (file)

• (Austria)

  (file)

öffnen (third-person singular simple present öffnet, past tense öffnete, past participle geöffnet, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive) to open (to make something accessible or allow for passage by moving from a shut position)

   Das Kind öffnete die Fenster.

   The child opened the windows.

2. (transitive) to open (to make accessible to customers or clients)
3. (transitive, computing) to open (to load into memory for viewing or editing)
4. (intransitive) to open, get, or answer the door
5. (reflexive) to open (to become open)
6. (reflexive) to open up (to), confide (in) (to reveal oneself; share personal information about oneself)

While öffnen isn't explicitly formal, it is fairly infrequent in everyday spoken language, typically replaced by the colloquial aufmachen.

• aufmachen

• schließen
• zumachen

• öffnen in Duden online