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German Genitive (Possessive Case).


The genitive case shows possession, ownership, or relationship.

Questions to ask:
Whose? (English)
Wessen? (German)

Equivalent to English “of” or ’s


1. Basic Meaning

English
  • The car of the man
  • The man’s car

German
Das Auto des Mannes
(The car of the man)
➡ des Mannes = GENITIVE


2. Genitive Articles

Gender (Geschlecht, Genus) Definite (Definitiv, Stimmt) Indefinite (Unbestimmt)
Masculine des eines
Feminine der einer
Neuter des eines
Plural der _


3. Noun endings in Genitive

Masculine & Neuter nouns get:
-s or -es

Rule:
1 syllable → -es
Multiple syllables → -s

Examples:
  • der Mann → des Mannes
  • der Lehrer → des Lehrers
  • das Kind → des Kindes
  • das Buch → des Buches


4. Position in sentence

Genitive noun usually comes after the main noun:
Das Auto des Mannes
Die Tasche der Frau



5. Using "von" instead of Genitive (Modern German) (Speaking)

In spoken German, people often use:
von + Dative
Instead of Genitive:
Genitive Spoken
Das Auto des Mannes Das Auto von dem Mann
Die Tasche der Frau Die Tasche von der Frau
Important
Genitive = formal / written
von + Dative = spoken / casual



6. Genitive Prepositions

These prepositions require genitive case:
  • während (during)
  • wegen (because of)
  • trotz (despite)
  • statt (instead of)
  • außerhalb (outside of)
  • innerhalb (inside of)

Examples:
  • wegen des Wetters
    (because of the weather)
  • trotz der Kälte
    (despite the cold)


7. Genitive with Proper Names

With names:
Add -s
  • Marias Buch
  • Peters Auto