German grammar

Genitive Case

The German genitive case is used to indicate possession or ownership. In spoken German, the genitive is often seen as formal or old-fashioned, and is frequently replaced with the preposition von + dative.

Unlike English, where the possessive construction comes before the noun (e.g. my father’s car), in German the genitive construction usually comes after the noun it refers to. For example:

Hier ist das Auto meines Vaters – Here is my father’s car

Endings in the Genitive Case

Of all four German cases, the genitive case has the most endings. These affect both the articles and the noun itself, replacing the apostrophe-'s' used in English.

Article Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Definite des Mannes der Frau des Kindes der Tiere
Indefinite eines Mannes einer Frau eines Kindes – Tiere
Negative keines Mannes keiner Frau keines Kindes keiner Tiere
Possessive meines Mannes meiner Frau meines Kindes meiner Tiere

Note: Masculine and neuter nouns usually take an -es or -s ending. One-syllable nouns often take -es, while longer ones typically use -s.

Genitive Case After Certain Prepositions

The following prepositions always trigger the genitive case, regardless of sentence position:

Preposition Definition
trotzdespite
währendduring
wegenbecause of
(an)stattinstead of

Examples

Here are a few example sentences using the genitive case:

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