Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.

The musician is famous in the city.

Breakdown of Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.

• sein: to be
• in: in
• die Stadt: the city
• der Musiker: the musician
• berühmt: famous

Questions & Answers about Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.

Why does the sentence start with Der Musiker and not something like Den Musiker or Dem Musiker?

Der Musiker is the subject of the sentence (“The musician”), so it must be in the nominative case.

For the definite article der (masculine singular), the forms are:

• Nominative (subject): der Musiker
• Accusative (direct object): den Musiker
• Dative (indirect object): dem Musiker

In this sentence, we are saying who is famous, not doing anything to him, so we use the nominative: Der Musiker ist …

Does Musiker mean specifically a male musician? How would I say “female musician” or be gender‑neutral?

Yes, der Musiker usually refers to a male musician.

Common forms:

• der Musiker – male musician
• die Musikerin – female musician
• die Musiker – plural, can mean “musicians” (all‑male or mixed group)
• die Musikerinnen – plural, only female musicians

Gender‑neutral options (you’ll see these in modern German writing, especially in Germany):

• die Musiker*innen, die Musiker:innen, die Musiker:innen – different “inclusive” spellings
• More naturally in many contexts: die Musikschaffenden (“music creators”), die Musikerinnen und Musiker (“female and male musicians”)

In your sentence, Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt clearly suggests a single male person.

Why are Musiker and Stadt capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

• der Musiker – “the musician” → noun → capitalized
• die Stadt → “the city / the town” → noun → capitalized

Adjectives and verbs are not capitalized in normal sentences:

• berühmt (adjective)
• ist (verb)

So the correct capitalization is Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.

What is ist exactly? Is it just “is”?

Yes. ist is the 3rd person singular form of the verb sein (“to be”).

Conjugation of sein in the present tense:

• ich bin – I am
• du bist – you are (informal singular)
• er/sie/es ist – he/she/it is
• wir sind – we are
• ihr seid – you are (informal plural)
• sie/Sie sind – they are / you are (formal)

Since the subject is der Musiker (he), we need er ist → Der Musiker ist …

Why does berühmt have no ending? Why not berühmter or berühmte?

Because berühmt is used as a predicate adjective here (after sein).

German distinguishes:

1. Attributive adjective – before the noun → gets an ending

   • Der berühmte Musiker – The famous musician
   • eine berühmte Stadt – a famous city

2. Predicate adjective – after sein, werden, bleiben, etc. → no ending

   • Der Musiker ist berühmt. – The musician is famous.
   • Die Stadt bleibt berühmt. – The city remains famous.

In your sentence, berühmt comes after ist, so it stays in its base form: berühmt.

Why is it in der Stadt and not in die Stadt?

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative, depending on meaning:

• Dative → location (where something is)
• Accusative → direction/motion (where something is going)

Here we are talking about where he is famous (location), not movement:

• Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.
  → He is famous in the city (location) → dative

Compare:

• Er geht in die Stadt. – He is going into the city. (direction → accusative)
• Er wohnt in der Stadt. – He lives in the city. (location → dative)

If die Stadt is feminine, why do we say in der Stadt and not in die Stadt or in die Stadt for location?

The base form is:

• die Stadt – nominative singular (feminine)

In the dative singular, the article for feminine nouns is der:

Definite article paradigm (singular):

• Masculine: der – dem – den
• Neuter: das – dem – das
• Feminine: die – der – die
  (Nom. – Dat. – Acc.)

So:

• Nominative: die Stadt (as a subject)
• Dative: der Stadt (after some prepositions, like in for location)

Because in here expresses location, we need dative → in der Stadt.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Der Musiker ist in der Stadt berühmt?

Yes. Both sentences are grammatically correct:

• Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.
• Der Musiker ist in der Stadt berühmt.

The meaning is essentially the same (“the musician is famous in the city”), but there is a slight difference in emphasis:

• ist berühmt in der Stadt – neutral; the whole phrase berühmt in der Stadt describes him.
• ist in der Stadt berühmt – emphasizes in der Stadt a bit more; he is famous there (maybe not elsewhere).

You can also move the adverbial phrase to the front:

• In der Stadt ist der Musiker berühmt.
  → Focuses strongly on the place: In the city, the musician is famous.

What is the difference between berühmt and bekannt? Could I say Der Musiker ist bekannt in der Stadt?

You can absolutely say:

• Der Musiker ist bekannt in der Stadt.

Both berühmt and bekannt can be translated as “famous / well-known”, but there is a nuance:

• berühmt – “famous” in a stronger, more “celebrity” sense, often more widely known.
• bekannt – “known / well-known”, can be more local or less “big” than berühmt.

So:

• Der Musiker ist berühmt in der Stadt.
  → He is (quite) famous in the city.

• Der Musiker ist bekannt in der Stadt.
  → People in the city know him; he is well-known there, but not necessarily a big star.

How would I make this sentence plural? For example, “The musicians are famous in the city.”

You need plural forms for the article, noun, and verb:

• Die Musiker sind berühmt in der Stadt.

Changes:

• Der Musiker → Die Musiker (plural article + plural noun form)
• ist → sind (3rd person plural of sein)
• berühmt stays the same (predicate adjective, no ending)
• in der Stadt stays the same (still one city, dative singular feminine)

How do I negate this sentence? Where does nicht go?

The usual negation is:

• Der Musiker ist nicht berühmt in der Stadt.

Here, nicht negates the adjective phrase berühmt in der Stadt.

Other possible placements (with small shifts in emphasis):

• Der Musiker ist in der Stadt nicht berühmt.
  → Emphasizes that specifically in the city he is not famous (maybe elsewhere he is).

You generally don’t say:

• ❌ Der Musiker ist berühmt nicht in der Stadt.

unless you immediately contrast it with some other place, e.g.:

• Der Musiker ist berühmt, aber nicht in der Stadt, sondern im ganzen Land.