Breakdown of Der Schauspieler, ein sympathischer Mann, lächelt und gibt ein Autogramm.
ein
a, an (eine)
der Mann
the man
und
and
geben
to give
Questions & Answers about Der Schauspieler, ein sympathischer Mann, lächelt und gibt ein Autogramm.
Why is ein sympathischer Mann in the nominative case?
It is an apposition—a descriptive phrase placed right next to a noun. In German, an apposition always takes the exact same case as the noun it describes. Because Der Schauspieler is the subject of the sentence (nominative), ein sympathischer Mann must also be nominative.
Why does the adjective sympathischer end in -er?
In the phrase ein sympathischer Mann, the indefinite article ein has no ending to show us that the noun is masculine and nominative. Therefore, the adjective has to do the heavy lifting by taking the strong masculine nominative ending -er.
Does sympathischer mean that the actor is "sympathetic"?
No, this is a very common false friend! In German, sympathisch means "likeable," "pleasant," or "nice." If you want to say someone is "sympathetic" (meaning they show pity or compassion), you would use a word like mitfühlend.
Since Autogramm is the direct object receiving the action, why isn't it einen Autogramm?
The noun is neuter (das Autogramm), not masculine. It is indeed in the accusative case because it's the direct object, but the neuter accusative form of the indefinite article is simply ein.