Die Kaffeebohne ist dunkel.

Die is the definite article for the noun Kaffeebohne.

In this sentence, Kaffeebohne is:

• feminine
• singular
• in the nominative case (because it is the subject of the sentence)

So:

• der = masculine
• die = feminine singular, or plural
• das = neuter

Here, die Kaffeebohne means the coffee bean.

You can tell from the verb and the noun form.

• ist = is, which is singular
• Kaffeebohne is the singular form
• The plural would be Kaffeebohnen

So:

• Die Kaffeebohne ist dunkel. = The coffee bean is dark.
• Die Kaffeebohnen sind dunkel. = The coffee beans are dark.

Even though die can also be a plural article, the verb ist shows that this sentence is singular.

German often forms compound nouns by combining words that English would usually keep separate.

Here:

• Kaffee = coffee
• Bohne = bean

Together:

• Kaffeebohne = coffee bean

This is very normal in German. English speakers often want to separate these words, but in German they are usually written as a single noun.

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So in this sentence:

• Kaffeebohne is capitalized because it is a noun
• dunkel is not capitalized because it is an adjective
• ist is not capitalized because it is a verb

This is one of the most noticeable differences from English.

Because German often puts the verb in second position in a main clause, and the rest of the sentence comes after it.

The sentence structure is:

• Die Kaffeebohne = subject
• ist = verb
• dunkel = predicate adjective

So the pattern is:

subject + verb + adjective

This is actually similar to English here:

• The coffee bean is dark.

In this sentence, dunkel comes after ist because it describes the subject through the verb sein.

Because dunkel is used here as a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly before a noun.

Compare:

• die dunkle Kaffeebohne = the dark coffee bean
  
  • Here the adjective comes before the noun, so it takes an ending: dunkle
• Die Kaffeebohne ist dunkel. = The coffee bean is dark.
  
  • Here the adjective comes after the verb ist, so it has no ending

This is an important rule in German:

• before a noun → adjective ending needed
• after sein/werden/bleiben → usually no adjective ending

Ist is the third-person singular form of the verb sein (to be).

The relevant forms are:

• ich bin = I am
• du bist = you are
• er/sie/es ist = he/she/it is
• wir sind = we are
• ihr seid = you are
• sie/Sie sind = they are / you are (formal)

Since die Kaffeebohne is a singular noun, German uses ist.

In many contexts, dunkel simply means dark in color or appearance. With coffee-related things, it can sometimes also suggest dark roast or a darker shade, depending on context.

But grammatically, it is just the adjective dark.

If you wanted to be more specific, German could also use:

• dunkel geröstet = dark-roasted
• schwarz = black
• braun = brown

So dunkel is a broad, flexible adjective.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Kaffeebohne ≈ KAH-feh-boh-nuh

A few details:

• Kaffee sounds roughly like kah-FEH
• Bohne sounds roughly like BOH-nuh
• The h in Bohne is not strongly pronounced; it mainly shows that the o is long
• The stress is usually on the first part of each component: KAF-fee-boh-ne, with a strong beginning overall

And dunkel is roughly:

DOON-kel

Yes, you could, but it would mean the bean is dark, not specifically the coffee bean, unless the context already makes that clear.

• die Bohne = the bean
• die Kaffeebohne = the coffee bean

German often prefers the more precise compound noun when needed.

That would be:

Die Kaffeebohnen sind dunkel.

Changes:

• Kaffeebohne → Kaffeebohnen (plural)
• ist → sind (plural verb)

So:

• Die Kaffeebohne ist dunkel. = singular
• Die Kaffeebohnen sind dunkel. = plural

Yes, German word order can change, but the conjugated verb usually stays in second position in a main clause.

For example:

• Die Kaffeebohne ist dunkel.
• Dunkel ist die Kaffeebohne.
• Heute ist die Kaffeebohne dunkel.

These are all possible, though the first one is the most neutral and natural for a beginner.

The important rule is:

• in a normal main clause, the finite verb (ist) stays in position 2.