Das Alter ist wichtig.

to be

Breakdown of Das Alter ist wichtig.

• wichtig: important
• das Alter: a person's age

Questions & Answers about Das Alter ist wichtig.

Why is it das Alter and not der Alter or die Alter?

Because Alter is a neuter noun in German: das Alter.

German nouns have grammatical gender, and you have to learn each noun together with its article:

• der = masculine
• die = feminine
• das = neuter

So the correct form is always das Alter.

Why is Alter capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized.

So:

• das Alter = age
• wichtig = important → not capitalized, because it is an adjective

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

Why does the sentence use ist?

Ist is the 3rd person singular form of sein (to be).

The subject is das Alter, which is grammatically singular, so German uses:

• das Alter ist = age is

Compare:

• Ich bin = I am
• du bist = you are
• er/sie/es ist = he/she/it is