The genitive case in German is used to indicate possession or belonging between nouns.
Example:
- Das ist des Mannes Auto. (That is the man's car.)
Here, des Mannes is in the genitive case because it shows who the car belongs to.
A simple way to identify which noun is in the genitive case is by trying to answer the question "whose?" (which will correspond to the possessor)
Example:
- Die Tasche der Frau ist elegant. (The woman's bag is elegant.)
Der Frau answers "Whose bag is elegant?" - hence it's in the genitive case.
Genitive Case Endings
Definite article, indefinite article, and other determiners change form depending on the gender, number, and case of the noun they accompany. Here are the forms in the genitive case:
ㅤ | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
Definite Article | des
des Mannes | der
der Frau | des
des Kindes | der
der Kinder |
Indefinite Article | eines
eines Mannes | einer
einer Frau | eines
eines Kindes | - |
Demonstrative
Determiner | dieses
dieses Mannes | dieser
dieser Frau | dieses dieses Kindes | dieser
dieser Kinder |
Possessive
Determiner | meines
meines Mannes | meiner
meiner Frau | meines
meines Kindes | meiner
meiner Kinder |
In the genitive case, masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es to the end. The rule is:
- Add -es to nouns that end with s, ss, ß, z, tz, and one-syllable nouns
- des Hauses (of the house) - one syllable noun
- des Mannes (of the man) - one syllable noun
- Add -s to most other nouns
- des Computers (of the computer) - multi-syllable noun
Genitive Case with Prepositions
Certain prepositions always take the genitive case. These include:
- anstatt/statt (instead of)
- aufgrund (because of)
- außerhalb (outside of)
- innerhalb (within)
- trotz (despite)
- während (during)
- wegen (because of)
Example:
- Trotz des Regens gehen wir spazieren. (Despite the rain, we go for a walk.)
Here, des Regens is in the genitive case because of the preposition trotz.
- Wegen des Unfalls konnten wir nicht fahren. (Because of the accident, we couldn't drive.)
Usage of the Genitive Case
In modern German, the genitive case is becoming less common in spoken language, often replaced by the dative case with von.
For example:
- Genitive form: Das Auto des Mannes. (The car of the man.)
- Dative alternative: Das Auto von dem Mann. (The car of the man.)
However, the genitive case is still commonly used in written German, especially in formal or literary contexts.
Other Triggers - Some Expressions
Some specific phrases and time expressions are commonly formed with the genitive case. These expressions have become fixed in the language and are used regularly even in spoken German:
- Time expressions like eines Tages (one day), eines Morgens (one morning)
- Eines schönen Tages machten sie einen Ausflug in die Berge. (One fine day they went on a trip to the mountains.)
- Specific days such as eines Montags (one Monday), eines Sonntags (one Sunday)
- Eines Montags regnete es den ganzen Tag. (One Monday it rained all day.)
- Other temporal phrases like dieser Tage (these days/recently)
- Dieser Tage kommt meine Schwester zu Besuch. (These days/Soon my sister is coming to visit.)
Possession and Proper Nouns
When indicating possession with a proper noun in German, you simply add -s to the end of the name. Unlike English, no apostrophe is usually used.
Examples:
- Annas Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. (Anna's book is on the table.)
- Deutschlands Hauptstadt ist Berlin. (Germany's capital is Berlin.)
For names that end in -s, -ß, -z, or -x, modern German generally uses an apostrophe rather than adding another -s!
- Klaus' Hund ist sehr freundlich. (Klaus's dog is very friendly.)