Breakdown of Er fotografiert nicht nur das Kleid, sondern auch den Designer, eine echte Berühmtheit.
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
das Kleid
the dress
fotografieren
to photograph
echt
really (intensifier); genuine
nicht nur ..., sondern auch
not only ... but also
die Berühmtheit
the celebrity
der Designer
the designer
Questions & Answers about Er fotografiert nicht nur das Kleid, sondern auch den Designer, eine echte Berühmtheit.
The phrase eine echte Berühmtheit describes den Designer, which is accusative. Is the apposition also in the accusative case?
Yes! An apposition (a descriptive noun phrase placed right next to another noun) always takes the same case as the noun it describes. Since he is photographing den Designer (accusative), eine echte Berühmtheit is also accusative. It just looks like the nominative case because feminine nouns don't change their articles in the accusative. If he were a masculine star, the apposition would change to show the accusative: einen echten Star.
Why do we use sondern instead of aber for "but" in this sentence?
This sentence uses the fixed, two-part connector nicht nur ..., sondern auch ..., which translates directly to "not only ..., but also ...". Whenever you use "not only" (nicht nur), you must follow it with sondern auch, never aber. In general German, sondern is used instead of aber when you are contradicting or offering an alternative to a negative statement.
Why does the adjective echt get an -e ending here (echte)?
It follows the standard adjective ending rules for coming after an indefinite article (ein, eine, etc.). Because Berühmtheit is a feminine noun in the accusative case, the adjective must take the -e ending, giving us eine echte Berühmtheit.
Is there a trick to remembering the gender of Berühmtheit so I know to use eine?
Yes! Any German noun ending in the suffixes -heit (like die Gesundheit or die Freiheit) or -keit (like die Möglichkeit) is always feminine. Because it is feminine, it uses the article eine.
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