genitív

Genitív, or genitive, is a grammatical case found in many languages that marks a relationship between two nouns or between a noun and a determiner. Its core function is often expressed in English as a possessive or a relation equivalent to the preposition of, though the exact use and form vary across languages. The genitive commonly signals possession or association, but it can also indicate origin, material, content, measure, or partitive meaning.

In languages with rich inflection, the genitive is expressed by specific noun endings and article forms that change with gender, number, and case. For example, in German the phrase the book of the man is das Buch des Mannes, where des Mannes is the genitive form of the noun man. In Russian, genitive endings differ by gender and number and are used for a range of syntactic environments, including after negation and with certain prepositions. In English, which relies more on word order and prepositions than on inflection, the genitive appears as the possessive ’s or as the prepositional construction of, as in John’s book or the color of the car.

Genitive usage also intersects with numerals and partitive expressions. English frequently employs a genitive with numerals to express duration or portions, as in two days’ work. Many languages use a genitive to express material (a ring of gold), content (a cup of tea), or origin (a woman of French descent) in addition to possession.

The term derives from Latin genitivus. The genitive is a central concept in the grammar of many languages, though its exact form and function differ across linguistic families.