Genitivs

Genitiv, or the genitive case, is a grammatical category used in several languages to indicate a relationship between two nouns, most commonly possession. In German, the Genitive signals possession, part-whole relations, or origin, and it can also appear after a small set of prepositions. It is one of the four cases, alongside nominative, accusative, and dative.

In German, the Genitive expresses possession and is marked in two ways: determiners and noun endings. In the singular masculine and neuter, the definite article changes to des, and the noun usually takes an -es or -s ending: der Mann becomes des Mannes, das Kind becomes des Kindes. In feminine singular and all plural forms, the article becomes der and the noun typically has no genitive ending: die Frau becomes der Frau; die Häuser becomes der Häuser. Examples include das Auto des Mannes, das Haus der Frau, die Bücher der Kinder.

Genitive is also used after certain prepositions, including während, wegen, trotz, statt, innerhalb, außerhalb, and jenseits. For example: während des Regens, wegen des Verlustes, trotz der Schwierigkeiten. In practice, some of these prepositions increasingly admit a dative construction in everyday speech, though the genitive remains standard in formal writing.

In addition to noun phrases, the Genitive appears with possessive pronouns and adjectives: meines Autos (of my car), seines Hauses (his house). The Genitive can also form a Genitivobjekt with certain verbs that govern a genitive object, though this usage is relatively formal or literary.

Overall, the German Genitive contrasts with the more colloquial use of von + dative for possession, and it remains a key feature of formal and written style.