Greetings, introductions, and the capital-letter rule
Two big things in this lesson. First: the everyday greetings, plus how to say your name and that you're 'fine'. Second: the iron-clad German rule that every noun is capitalized — not just at the start of a sentence, not just for proper names, but every single noun, every time. Haus, Mann, Tag, Schule — all capitalized, always.
Hello and goodbye
Hallo = hi (any time of day). Guten Morgen = good morning (until ~10–11 a.m.). Guten Tag = good day (the catch-all daytime greeting). Guten Abend = good evening. Gute Nacht = good night (when going to bed). Tschüss = bye (informal). Auf Wiedersehen = goodbye (formal — literally 'until seeing again').
How are you / introducing yourself
Wie geht's? = how are you? (informal, short for Wie geht es dir?). Answer: Gut, danke. = Good, thanks. Sehr gut. = Very good. Wie heißt du? = what's your name? (literally 'how are you called?'). Answer: Ich heiße Anna. = I'm called Anna. Or simply Ich bin Anna. = I am Anna.
First peek at sein (to be)
sein = to be. For now, just two forms: ich bin = I am, du bist = you are. Ich bin Anna. Du bist mein Freund. Full conjugation comes in lesson 3.
Capitalize ALL nouns — no exceptions
This is the single most visible feature of written German. Every noun is capitalized in the middle of a sentence: Der Mann hat ein Haus. = 'The man has a house.' Both Mann and Haus get capitals. Even abstract nouns: die Liebe (love), das Glück (luck), die Zeit (time). If a word names a person, place, thing, or idea — capitalize it. Pronouns and verbs stay lower-case (except Sie = formal 'you', which we'll meet in lesson 3).
Bitte — please, you're welcome, and more
Bitte is the Swiss-army knife. It means 'please' (Wasser, bitte.), 'you're welcome' (after someone says danke), and 'here you go' (when handing something over). Memorize it now — you'll use it constantly.
