Ich archiviere die Metadaten.

Because it is the first-person singular form of the verb archivieren in the present tense.

The pattern is:

• ich archiviere = I archive
• du archivierst = you archive
• er/sie/es archiviert = he/she/it archives
• wir archivieren = we archive
• ihr archiviert = you all archive
• sie/Sie archivieren = they archive / you archive

So the -e ending matches ich.

Yes. archivieren is a regular (weak) verb.

That means it follows the normal conjugation pattern in the present tense and in forms like the simple past and past participle:

• infinitive: archivieren
• present: ich archiviere
• simple past: ich archivierte
• past participle: archiviert

So there is nothing especially irregular to memorize here.

This is the standard word order for a simple German main clause:

• Ich = subject
• archiviere = verb
• die Metadaten = object

So it follows the very common pattern:

Subject + verb + object

Also, German main clauses usually place the finite verb in the second position. Here, Ich takes the first position, so archiviere must come next.

Because Metadaten is plural, and in this sentence it is the direct object.

The plural definite article is:

• nominative plural: die
• accusative plural: die
• dative plural: den
• genitive plural: der

Here the noun is a direct object, so it is in the accusative case, and the accusative plural article is die.

That is why you get:

• die Metadaten

not:

• den Metadaten (that would be dative plural)
• das Metadaten (not possible, because das is singular neuter)

Metadaten is plural.

The singular form is:

• das Metadatum

The plural form is:

• die Metadaten

In real usage, people very often use the plural Metadaten, especially when talking about metadata in a general or technical sense.

So:

• das Metadatum = one metadata item
• die Metadaten = metadata / metadata items

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So in this sentence:

• Ich is capitalized because it is the first word of the sentence.
• archiviere is not capitalized because it is a verb in the middle of the sentence.
• Metadaten is capitalized because it is a noun.

This is one of the most noticeable spelling differences between German and English.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

• archiviere -> ahr-khee-VEE-ruh

A few useful notes:

• The ch in archi- is usually pronounced like a soft German ch sound, not like English ch in chair.
• The stress is on vie: archi-VIE-re.
• The final -e is pronounced, but lightly.

If you want a rough English-friendly guide, ahr-khee-VEE-ruh is close enough to get started.

A useful approximation is:

• Metadaten -> MAY-tah-dah-ten

More precisely:

• stress is usually on the first syllable: ME-tadaten
• the d in German is a normal d
• the final -en is pronounced clearly, not reduced as much as in casual English

So an English learner can think of it roughly as MEH-tah-dah-ten or MAY-tah-dah-ten, depending on accent and speaking style.

German usually treats Metadaten as a plural noun, even when English speakers might think of metadata as a mass or uncountable term.

So German commonly says:

• die Metadaten sind wichtig = the metadata are/is important

Even when it refers to metadata in general, German often still uses the plural form Metadaten.

If you need a singular item, use:

• das Metadatum

But in everyday technical German, the plural is much more common.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• archivieren = to archive, to file away, to store in an organized long-term way
• speichern = to save, to store

So:

• Ich speichere die Metadaten suggests saving or storing them.
• Ich archiviere die Metadaten suggests putting them into an archive or preserving them systematically.

In many technical contexts both could appear, but archivieren sounds more specifically like archiving, not just saving.

Yes, sometimes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Ich archiviere die Metadaten = I am archiving the metadata, meaning specific metadata already known in the context.
• Ich archiviere Metadaten = I archive metadata / I am archiving metadata, more general and less specific.

So including die makes the noun phrase more definite and specific.

In German, ich is normally not capitalized in the middle of a sentence.

It is capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence:

• Ich archiviere die Metadaten.

If it appeared later in a sentence, it would be lowercase:

• Heute archiviere ich die Metadaten.

This is different from English, where I is always capitalized.

It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb archiviere.

A simple way to see it:

• Who is doing the action? -> Ich
• What is being archived? -> die Metadaten

The thing receiving the action is the direct object, so German uses the accusative case here.

Because Metadaten is plural, the article stays die in the accusative.