Capitalization

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All German nouns are capitalized. This sometimes makes it difficult to determine whether a word beginning with a capital letter is a common noun or a proper name. Thus, for example, Schneider could refer to a tailor or to a person named Schneider.

Unlike English, adjectives which refer to nationality are not capitalized. Thus das amerikanische Auto = the American car.

The German counterpart for English "I" (ich) is not capitalized, but the formal counterpart for English "you" (Sie) is.