Breakdown of Der Film, ein großer Erfolg, zeigt ihn in der Hauptrolle.
ein
a, an (eine)
groß
big / tall
in
in
ihn
him
der Film
the movie / the film
zeigen
to show
der Erfolg
the success
die Hauptrolle
the leading role
Questions & Answers about Der Film, ein großer Erfolg, zeigt ihn in der Hauptrolle.
Why is ein großer Erfolg in the nominative case?
It is an apposition, which is a descriptive phrase placed right next to a noun to give more information about it. In German, an apposition must always match the case of the noun it describes. Because Der Film is the subject of the sentence (nominative), ein großer Erfolg must also be in the nominative case.
Why does großer end in -er here?
Erfolg is a masculine noun. Since the phrase is in the nominative case and uses the indefinite article ein (which doesn't show the masculine gender on its own), the adjective must do the heavy lifting. It takes the strong ending -er to signal that the noun is masculine.
Why do we use der in in der Hauptrolle if Rolle is a feminine noun?
Rolle is indeed feminine (die Rolle), but the preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because it describes a static situation here (a state of being, answering "where?") rather than movement toward a destination, it requires the dative case. The dative form of the feminine article die is der.
Do I always need to use commas around an apposition?
Yes! Just like in English, when an apposition interrupts the flow of a sentence to add extra descriptive information, you must set it off with commas on both sides.
How is the word Hauptrolle built?
It is a compound noun made from Haupt (main or head) and Rolle (role). You will see Haupt- used in many common German words to mean "main," such as Hauptstadt (capital city) and Hauptbahnhof (main train station).
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