Key learning points

1. Ask 'Wie schreibt man das?' to ask how to spell a word in German.
2. 'Wie heißt ...?' or 'Wie heißen ...?' (What is it/are they called?) are alternatives to 'Wie sagt man ...?'.
3. Definite articles - 'der, die, das, die' - and indefinite articles - 'ein, eine, ein' - are used before nouns.
4. The accusative case shows us the direct object in a sentence.
5. Masculine articles change in the accusative case ('den; einen'). Feminine, neuter and plural articles do not change.

Keywords

• Heißen - verb meaning 'to be called'

• Article - word such as 'the' (der, die, das) or 'a' (ein, eine, ein) used before a noun

• Accusative case - case used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions

Common misconception