Learn Hardcore German: Die Enttäuschung über den Film war groß, aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich. - The disappointment about the film was great, but we stayed happy nevertheless.

In German, certain nouns often “choose” a fixed preposition. With Enttäuschung, the normal preposition for the thing you’re disappointed about is über:

die Enttäuschung über den Film – the disappointment about the film
die Enttäuschung über das Ergebnis – the disappointment about the result

Using von or mit here would sound unusual or wrong in standard German.

So you can remember:

Enttäuschung über + Akkusativ = disappointment about something

Why is it den Film and not dem Film after über?

Über is one of the so‑called two‑way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen).

They can take either dative or accusative, but:

Dative = location, “where?” (often physical space)
Accusative = movement toward / across / through a space, or figurative meanings (like “about” a topic, “over” something in a non-spatial way)

Here, über means “about” (a topic), not “above/over” in a physical sense. In such abstract/topic uses, über takes the accusative:

Enttäuschung über den Film (topic → accusative)
ein Buch über den Krieg (a book about the war → accusative)

So den Film is accusative singular masculine (from der Film).

Why is it Die Enttäuschung with die? What gender is Enttäuschung?

Enttäuschung is a feminine noun, so it uses die in the nominative singular:

die Enttäuschung – the disappointment

Many German nouns ending in -ung are feminine:

die Entscheidung (decision)
die Rechnung (bill)
die Bewegung (movement)

So: die Enttäuschung (fem.), and that’s why the sentence starts with Die Enttäuschung.

Why is groß at the end of the first clause: Die Enttäuschung … war groß?

In Die Enttäuschung über den Film war groß, the structure is:

subject: Die Enttäuschung über den Film
verb: war
predicate adjective: groß

In German main clauses, the finite verb is in second position, and adjectives that describe the subject (predicate adjectives) usually go after the verb:

Die Aufgabe war schwer. – The task was difficult.
Der Film war langweilig. – The film was boring.
Die Enttäuschung … war groß. – The disappointment was great/strong.

So groß stands at the end of that clause because it’s the last piece of information and the verb war must stay in second position.

Why use blieben fröhlich and not waren fröhlich?

Both are grammatically possible, but the meaning is slightly different:

wir waren fröhlich – we were cheerful (a simple state)
wir blieben fröhlich – we remained cheerful / we stayed cheerful

Bleiben emphasizes that the state continued. In this sentence, that fits very well:
Despite the big disappointment, we still stayed cheerful.

So wir blieben fröhlich suggests:

The disappointment appeared, but our good mood didn’t disappear.

What does trotzdem add here? Could I leave it out?

The second clause is aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich.

aber = but / however
trotzdem = nevertheless / in spite of that / all the same

If you leave out trotzdem:

Die Enttäuschung … war groß, aber wir blieben fröhlich.
→ still correct, but more neutral.

With trotzdem, the contrast is stronger and more explicit:

Big disappointment on one side, yet we still, nevertheless stayed cheerful.

So trotzdem makes the “in spite of this” idea very clear.

Why is trotzdem in the middle: wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich and not at the beginning?

Trotzdem is an adverb. It can move around a bit in the clause:

Common options:

aber trotzdem blieben wir fröhlich.
aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich.

Both are correct.

General rules:

Because of aber (a coordinating conjunction), the next clause is still a main clause with verb in second position.
Trotzdem can stand before the subject or after the verb, similar to English “nevertheless” or “still”:
- Trotzdem blieben wir fröhlich.
- Wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich.

The chosen version wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich sounds very natural and slightly less formal than starting the clause with trotzdem.

What is the difference between trotzdem and obwohl here?

They both express contrast, but grammatically they behave differently:

obwohl = subordinating conjunction (“although”)
- Obwohl die Enttäuschung über den Film groß war, blieben wir fröhlich.
trotzdem = adverb (“nevertheless”)
- Die Enttäuschung über den Film war groß, aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich.

Main differences:

obwohl introduces a subordinate clause (verb at the end).
trotzdem stands in a main clause (verb in 2nd position) and refers back to the previous idea.

Meaning-wise, both sentences are very similar:

Although the disappointment about the film was great, we stayed cheerful.
The disappointment about the film was great, but we stayed cheerful anyway.

Why is fröhlich at the end of the sentence?

In wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich, the order is:

subject: wir
verb: blieben
adverb: trotzdem
predicate adjective: fröhlich

German usually puts predicate adjectives near the end of the clause, after adverbs like trotzdem, sehr, immer, etc.:

Wir waren immer müde. – We were always tired.
Er ist noch jung. – He is still young.
Wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich. – We still remained cheerful.

So fröhlich in final position is the normal, natural word order.

Why are Enttäuschung, Film capitalized, but groß and fröhlich are not?

In German:

All nouns are capitalized.
Adjectives are normally not capitalized (with a few special exceptions).

So in the sentence:

Enttäuschung → noun → capitalized
Film → noun → capitalized
groß, fröhlich → adjectives → lower case

This is why you see Die Enttäuschung über den Film war groß, aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich.

What exactly does groß mean with Enttäuschung? Is it “big” or “great” or “strong”?

Literally, groß means big/large, but with abstract nouns like Enttäuschung, it often means something like:

strong, great, intense

So:

Die Enttäuschung war groß.
→ The disappointment was great / very strong.

It’s a very idiomatic and natural collocation in German, similar to English:

“Our disappointment was great.”
“The disappointment was huge.”

Could I say Die Enttäuschung über den Film war sehr groß? Is that better or worse?

Yes, Die Enttäuschung über den Film war sehr groß is perfectly correct.

groß already suggests a strong disappointment.
sehr groß just intensifies it (“very great”, “really huge”).

Style-wise:

war groß – neutral, nicely idiomatic.
war sehr groß – stronger emphasis; no problem, just more emotional.

Is there a related verb to Enttäuschung? How is the noun formed?

Yes. Enttäuschung comes from the verb enttäuschen:

enttäuschen – to disappoint
die Enttäuschung – the disappointment

Example:

Der Film hat uns enttäuscht. – The film disappointed us.
Unsere Enttäuschung über den Film war groß. – Our disappointment about the film was great.

Many German nouns ending in -ung are formed from verbs and describe the result or process of the action of the verb:

entscheiden → die Entscheidung (to decide → the decision)
enttäuschen → die Enttäuschung (to disappoint → the disappointment)

Why is it aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich and not aber blieben wir trotzdem fröhlich?

Because aber is a coordinating conjunction. After a coordinating conjunction:

The word order stays like in a normal main clause: subject–verb (verb in second position).

So:

Correct: …, aber wir blieben trotzdem fröhlich.
- Subject: wir
- Verb (2nd position): blieben
aber blieben wir trotzdem fröhlich would put the verb first (blieben), which is the pattern for yes/no questions:
- Blieben wir trotzdem fröhlich? – Did we still stay cheerful?

So in a normal statement, keep wir before blieben after aber.