Der Reparaturhelfer begrüßt uns.

Der is the definite article here, meaning the.

In this sentence, der Reparaturhelfer is the subject: the person doing the action.

Der also tells you that Reparaturhelfer is treated as a masculine singular noun in the nominative case.

German very often combines nouns into compound nouns.

So Reparaturhelfer is built from:

• Reparatur = repair
• Helfer = helper / assistant

Together, they form one noun: Reparaturhelfer.

A useful rule is that in German compounds, the last part is the main noun. So here the core word is Helfer, and that is why the whole compound behaves like Helfer in grammar.

The article tells you: der Reparaturhelfer.

Also, in a compound noun, the final element usually determines the grammatical gender. Since Helfer is masculine and takes der, the full word Reparaturhelfer is also masculine.

In German, all nouns are capitalized, not just proper names.

So Reparaturhelfer is capitalized because it is a noun.

Der is capitalized here simply because it is the first word of the sentence. If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written der.

The infinitive is begrüßen.

In this sentence, the subject is der Reparaturhelfer, which is third person singular (he / the repair helper), so the verb must be conjugated:

• ich begrüße
• du begrüßt
• er/sie/es begrüßt
• wir begrüßen
• ihr begrüßt
• sie/Sie begrüßen

So der Reparaturhelfer begrüßt is the correct form.

ß is called Eszett or scharfes S.

In modern German spelling, ß is generally used after a long vowel or diphthong, while ss is used after a short vowel.

So:

• grüßen
• begrüßen
• begrüßt

The ß is pronounced like ss, not like English z.

Because uns is the object pronoun, while wir is the subject pronoun.

In this sentence:

• der Reparaturhelfer = the one doing the action
• uns = the people receiving the action

So German uses uns, which is the accusative form of wir.

Compare:

• wir = we
• uns = us

Just like in English, you say he greets us, not he greets we.

It is accusative.

The verb begrüßen normally takes a direct object, and the direct object in German is usually in the accusative case.

So:

• Der Reparaturhelfer = nominative subject
• uns = accusative object

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

subject + verb + object

So:

• Der Reparaturhelfer = subject
• begrüßt = verb
• uns = object

German main clauses follow the rule that the finite verb goes in the second position. Here, the subject is in first position, so the verb comes next.

Yes, but the verb still has to stay in second position in a normal main clause.

For example:

• Uns begrüßt der Reparaturhelfer.

This is still grammatical, but it gives more emphasis to uns. English usually changes emphasis with voice or stress, while German can also move sentence parts around more freely because case marking helps show their roles.

Still, Der Reparaturhelfer begrüßt uns is the most neutral and natural order.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• be- like beh
• grüßt has the ü sound, which does not exist naturally in standard English

The ü is pronounced with rounded lips. A common trick is:

1. Say ee
2. Keep your tongue in that position
3. Round your lips

That gives you something close to German ü.

Also, the final -t is pronounced clearly, and ß sounds like s.

It is understandable and perfectly possible German, but whether it is the most common choice depends on context.

German often creates very specific compound nouns, so even if you have never seen one before, you can often understand it by its parts. A native speaker may also use other words depending on the situation, but Reparaturhelfer is grammatically normal and easy to interpret.

This is one of the useful things about German compounds: once you know the parts, you can often work out the whole word.