Questions & Answers about Der Apfel ist auch hier.
Why do we use der instead of das or die for the apple?
In German, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Apfel is a masculine noun, so it uses the masculine word for "the", which is der, when it is the subject of the sentence.
Why is the word Apfel capitalized?
In German, all nouns (words for people, places, things, or concepts) are always capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence. Because Apfel is a thing, it must get a capital letter.
Could I put auch at the very end of the sentence, like saying "The apple is here too" in English?
While people would understand you, German generally prefers to put auch directly before the word or idea it is emphasizing. Here, the focus is on being "also here", so auch hier is the most natural word order.
Why is the verb ist used here?
ist means "is". It is the "he/she/it" form of the irregular verb sein (to be). Because Der Apfel acts as a singular third person, we use ist just like we would in English.