Learn Dutch: Ik ben de man.

Dutch has two words for "the": de and het. We use de for man because it is a "common gender" word. A helpful tip: nouns for people and professions are almost always de words!

Is ben an irregular verb?

Yes. Ben means "am" and it is the ik (I) form of the verb zijn (to be). Just like "to be" in English, this verb is highly irregular, so you will need to memorize its forms instead of following a regular pattern.

Should ik always be capitalized like "I" is in English?

No! In this sentence, Ik is capitalized only because it is at the very beginning. If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would be written with a lowercase i. English is unique in always capitalizing "I".

How do I pronounce the 'e' in de?

The 'e' in de is pronounced as a short, relaxed 'uh' sound (known as a schwa). It sounds a lot like the 'u' in the English word "duh" or the 'a' in "about". It does not rhyme with "see".