Every noun takes a capital letter
CEFR A1 · part 1
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
Reading German aloud: ei, ie, z, v, w, chReading any German word aloud, knowing which letters sound different from how they are…der, die or das: the gender of nounsChoosing der, die or das, and spotting the endings that give the gender away without…sein and haben: where they part company with EnglishConjugating sein and haben in the present, and knowing which one each sentence needs.The present tense: six endings and the vowel that changesConjugating any regular verb in the present, and spotting the verbs that change their…The verb always comes secondPutting the verb in second place whatever the sentence starts with, and moving the…Asking questions in German: no auxiliary, and the seven W-wordsMaking both kinds of question: the yes/no one by inverting, and the one that starts with…The rule, in three lines
In German EVERY noun is capitalised, not just proper nouns: der Hund, das Buch, die Liebe. Days, months and languages too: Montag, Januar, Deutsch. Adjectives, verbs and the pronoun ich do not take one. Sie, the formal «you», does. You apply the rule by spotting the noun: once you can spot it, you know which word goes up.
The usual slip. Applying your own habits and leaving common nouns in lower case. And the mirror image: capitalising where German does not, especially ich, which stays lower case unless it opens the sentence.
Why it catches you out. English already capitalises days, months, languages and nationalities, so half the rule is free. The trap is the other half: English writes COMMON nouns in lower case, so «the dog sleeps» comes out as der hund schläft. And English capitalises I, while German never capitalises ich.