Rule
Verb
A1.1 · NewA verb describes an action or state. In a German main clause the finite verb is always in position 2: «Ich heiße Lina», «Du gehst nach Hause». Verbs change by person (ich heiße / du heißt). The personless base form is called the infinitive (heißen, gehen, sein).
Noun
A1.1 · NewA noun names a person, thing, place, or concept. In German every noun is capitalised — even mid-sentence: «der Mann», «die Frau», «das Kind». Every noun has a fixed grammatical gender — masculine, feminine, or neuter. Always learn the article with the word: not «Mann» but «der Mann».
Article
A1.1 · NewAn article is a tiny word before the noun that signals its gender: «der» (m), «die» (f), «das» (n), «die» (plural). There are definite articles (der/die/das — something already known) and indefinite (ein/eine — something new). English «the / a» behaves differently — in German the article is part of the word and you learn them together.
der / die / das (article gender)
A1.1 · NewEvery German noun has one of three articles: