Der Händler verkauft Autos.

Der is the masculine singular nominative definite article in German. It means the here.

In this sentence, der Händler is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

• der Händler = the dealer / the merchant
• nominative = the person or thing doing the action

If you changed the sentence to Ein Händler verkauft Autos, that would mean A dealer sells cars.

Händler usually means dealer, merchant, or trader, depending on context.

It is a person who buys and sells goods. In a sentence about Autos, Händler often suggests a car dealer.

It is a little different from Verkäufer:

• Händler = dealer/merchant, often someone in business selling goods
• Verkäufer = salesperson/seller, often the person working in a shop

So Händler is a very natural word here.

The basic verb is verkaufen = to sell.

In this sentence, it is conjugated for third-person singular because the subject is der Händler = he / the dealer.

Present tense of verkaufen:

• ich verkaufe
• du verkaufst
• er/sie/es verkauft
• wir verkaufen
• ihr verkauft
• sie/Sie verkaufen

So:

• Der Händler verkauft Autos.

That is exactly the same idea as English The dealer sells cars, where sell becomes sells.

The singular noun is das Auto.
The plural is die Autos.

Auto is one of many German nouns that form the plural with -s, especially:

• loanwords
• abbreviations
• some modern everyday nouns

So:

• singular: das Auto
• plural: die Autos

In the sentence, Autos is plural because the dealer sells cars in general, not just one car.

German often leaves out the article when talking about things in a general or indefinite sense.

So:

• Der Händler verkauft Autos. = The dealer sells cars. / The dealer sells cars in general.

If you add an article, the meaning changes:

• Der Händler verkauft die Autos. = The dealer sells the cars.
  This means specific cars already known from the context.
• Der Händler verkauft ein Auto. = The dealer sells a car.
  This means one car.

So no article before Autos is very normal here.

Autos is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb verkauft.

Ask:

• Who is doing the selling? → der Händler → subject → nominative
• What is he selling? → Autos → direct object → accusative

In this sentence, Autos looks the same as the nominative plural form. That is normal for many plural nouns in German.

So the structure is:

• Der Händler = nominative subject
• verkauft = verb
• Autos = accusative object

Here it is very similar to English:

• Der Händler = subject
• verkauft = verb
• Autos = object

So it follows a basic subject–verb–object pattern.

But the important German rule is that in a main clause, the conjugated verb usually comes in second position. In this sentence, that rule is satisfied because:

1. Der Händler
2. verkauft

If you changed the order, the verb would still need to stay in second position:

• Autos verkauft der Händler.

That version is possible, but it puts more emphasis on Autos.

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So in this sentence:

• Händler is a noun
• Autos is a noun

That is why both begin with capital letters.

This is one of the most noticeable spelling rules in German, and it applies all the time:

• der Mann
• die Frau
• das Haus
• ein Auto

Händler is pronounced approximately like HEND-ler, but with a German ä sound.

A rough guide:

• Händ- sounds a bit like hend
• -ler sounds like ler, with a light German r

The ä is usually pronounced somewhat like the e in bed for many learners’ purposes.

Also note:

• ä is a separate letter from a
• you should not pronounce it exactly like English a in hand

So Händler should sound closer to HEND-ler than HAND-ler.

In traditional grammar:

• der Händler = a male dealer / the masculine dictionary form
• die Händlerin = a female dealer

So if you want to refer specifically to a woman, you would usually say:

• Die Händlerin verkauft Autos.

The ending -in is a common way to form many feminine job titles and person nouns in German:

• der Lehrer → die Lehrerin
• der Verkäufer → die Verkäuferin
• der Händler → die Händlerin

Yes, in many contexts the German present tense can correspond to either:

• The dealer sells cars
• The dealer is selling cars

German present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive idea from English. Context tells you which one is meant.

So Der Händler verkauft Autos can describe:

• a general fact or habit
• something happening now

If you want to make right now extra clear, German often adds words like:

• gerade
• im Moment

For example:

• Der Händler verkauft gerade Autos. = The dealer is selling cars right now.