A 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».

An 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.