Genitivsingular

Genitivsingular, or genitive singular, refers to the singular form of the genitive case in languages that mark grammatical relations through inflection. It typically expresses possession, close association, or origin, and it contrasts with other singular cases such as nominative, accusative, and dative.

In German, the genitive singular is commonly used to show possession. The article and noun endings change accordingly: masculine and neuter nouns often take an -s or -es ending, while feminine nouns generally do not take an ending. Examples include des Mannes Hut (the man’s hat), des Hauses Dach (the roof of the house), and der Frau Tasche (the woman’s bag). Adjectives preceding the noun in genitive singular also take strong endings, as in des großen Hauses or der großen Frau. The structure can also express part-whole relationships or origin, as in die Farbe des Autos (the color of the car) or der Ursprung des Materials (the origin of the material).

Usage and variation: the genitive singular is widely used in formal and written German to indicate possession, association, or source. It also appears after certain prepositions and in fixed phrases. In everyday speech, speakers often substitute mit der Konstruktion mit von + Dativ or other periphrastic forms, reducing the frequency of genitive usage in colloquial language. Some nouns have irregular or ambiguous genitive forms, and the choice of article changes with gender and declension pattern.

Cross-linguistically, genitive singular forms vary by language, but the general function remains possession or close relation. In English, possession is usually shown with ’s or of-phrases, while Latin, Greek, and other languages have their own inflectional endings for genitive singular.

See also: Genitive case, possessive construction.