German Genitive
German Genitive
The genitive is the case that shows possession. For example : |
Das ist der Hund des Mannes. |
That is the dog of the man. |
In German the genitive is hardly used in spoken language. More often than not the genitive gets replaced by “von” and the dative.
Das ist der Hund von dem Mann. |
That is the dog of the man. |
The question you can use for the genitive is whose (“wessen”). Whose dog is it? It’s the man’s dog. Have a look at the table below to see how the articles change in the singular:
Definite articles:
Nominative |
Accusative |
Dative |
Genitive | |
| Masculine | der | den | dem | des |
| Feminine | die | die | der | der |
| Neuter | das | das | dem | des |
Indefinite articles:
Nominative |
Accusative |
Dative |
Genitive | |
| Masculine | ein | einen | einem | eines |
| Feminine | eine | eine | einer | einer |
| Neuter | ein | ein | einem | eines |
In the Genitive not only the articles change but also the endings of the nouns. Luckily the feminine nouns don’t change, so all you have to remember are the endings for the masculine and neuter nouns. If the noun ends with –en, -el, –er or a vowel you simply add an –s to the noun in the genitive. For example
Nominative |
Genitive |
||
| German | English | German | English |
| der Lehrer | the teacher | des Lehrers | of the teacher |
| ein Auto | a car | eines Autos | of a car |
|
Die Frau des Lehrers ist im Urlaub |
The wife of the teacher is on vacation. |
Die Spiegel eines Autos sind kaputt. |
The mirrors of a car are broken |
If the noun is short and ends with a consonant you have to add the ending –es. For example:
Nominative |
Genitive |
||
| German | English | German | English |
| der Mann | the man | des Mannes | of the man |
| ein Schloss | a castle | eines Schlosses | of a castle |
Das ist das Haus des Mannes.
|
That is the house of the man. |
Das ist der Besitzer der Katze. |
That is the owner of the cat. |
Zum Beispiel
| Das ist das Haus des Mannes. | That is the house of the man. |
| Das ist der Besitzer der Katze. | That is the owner of the cat. |
| Das ist das Buch eines Lehrers. | That is the book of a teacher. |
Try Rocket German for Free
Sign up for your free, no-obligation Lifetime Trial and see how well Rocket German works for you!
YES! I want to try Rocket German for free!
This is a private and fully protected mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time. You can review our Privacy Policy here
That's right, sign up now and you'll be able to see just how well my Rocket German Premium course works for you!
Your free trial gives you online access to a selection of Rocket German Premium interactive audio lessons and German language and culture lessons.
You'll be amazed at how much German you know after just a few days!
Paul Weber
Rocket German
Like Our Site? Follow Us!
