Nouns in apposition
| Look at the following sentence: Ludwig Schmollgruber, früherer Direktor dieser Schule, ist heute in einem Autounfall umgekommen. Ludwig Schmollgruber, this school’s former headmaster, died today in a car accident. | ||
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The expression früherer Direktor dieser Schule is said to stand in apposition to Ludwig Schmollgruber; it offers, between commas, additional information about the noun that precedes it. This is signii cant in German as a noun standing in apposition to another must be in the same case as the noun to which it refers, e.g. Ich habe Ludwig Schmollgruber, den früheren Direktor dieser Schule, gekannt. |
