The Genitive Case

I. Theory

The genitive case is used to show the relation between two nouns where one belongs to the other. This case can actually be seen in English with the possessive ‘s. While an s can (without apostrophe) can make the genitive in German, Germans typically prefer using a genitive article between the nouns to show their relation.

Die Farbe des Autos The color of the car Die Straßen der Stadt The streets of the city Katjas Geld Katja’s money Vaters Haus Father’s house

When an article or a possessive adjective is used, a genitive article must be included. If the genitive -s is used, no articles or possessives are used before both nouns. We see this below:

Mutters Auto Mother’s car Vaters Haus Father’s house Das Auto der Mutter The mother’s car Das Haus des Vaters The father’s house

II. Genitive Declensions

Nouns

Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
des Arbeiters	der Stadt	des Buches	der Wohnungen

-s/-es declension

When masculine and neuter nouns are in the genitive, they take either an -s or -es ending. The -es is preferred if the noun has one syllable. The -es is also used when a noun ends in -s, -sch, -z, or -ß.

Am Ende des Buches At the end of the book Am Anfang des Krieges At the beginning of the war Das Rad des Fahrrads The bike’s tire Die Tür des Schlosses The castle’s door

Definite Articles

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	des	der	des
Plural	der

Indefinite Articles

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	(k)eines	(k)einer	(k)eines
Plural	X

III. Genitive Prepositions

The following common prepositions take the genitive case. It is important to note that, at times, the dative is used with certain genitive prepositions because the genitive is slowly falling out of style and substituting it with the dative has become more common. Using the dative or genitive is also different between northern and southern speakers.

trotz Trotz des Wetters wandern wir. Despite the weather, we are going hiking. während Während des Kurses bin ich eingeschlafen. During the course, I feel asleep. wegen Die Grenze ist wegen des Krieges geschlossen. The border is closed due to the war. (an)statt Statt eines Bieres hätte ich gern ein Glas Wein. Instead of a beer, I would like a glass of wine. *Statt einem Bier …” is also considered acceptable

If a pronoun is used after a genitive preposition, the dative (indirect object) pronouns are used.

Wegen dir sind wir hinausgeworfen worden! Because of you, we were thrown out! Er wird statt mir zum Manager befördert. He was promoted to manager instead of me.