The Genitive

German Grammar 1

Chapter 8 · The Genitive

🏠 The Genitive — Der Genitiv

The fourth case shows possession and belonging: the man's car, the end of the film. It answers wessen? (whose?). English uses 's or of; German changes the article and, for masculine and neuter nouns, the noun. The genitive is more common in writing than in speech, and spoken German often replaces it with von + dative, but you still need to recognise it everywhere and use it correctly after certain prepositions.

The rule in one box The genitive articles are des (masculine), der (feminine), des (neuter) and der (plural). Masculine and neuter nouns also add -s or -es; feminine and plural nouns do not change. The genitive noun stands after the noun it belongs to: das Auto des Mannes (the man's car).

The articles in the genitive

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
the	des Mannes	der Frau	des Kindes	der Kinder
a	eines Mannes	einer Frau	eines Kindes	(none)
my	meines Vaters	meiner Mutter	meines Kindes	meiner Eltern
this	dieses Mannes	dieser Frau	dieses Kindes	dieser Kinder

-s or -es?

Noun	Ending	Examples
one syllable, or ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z, -sch, -st	-es (usually)	des Hauses, des Buches, des Mannes, des Tisches, des Kindes
longer words, especially ending in -er, -el, -en	-s	des Lehrers, des Vaters, des Autos, des Gartens
weak masculine nouns	-(e)n	des Jungen, des Studenten, des Menschen
a special case	-ns	der Name → des Namens
feminine and plural	no ending	der Frau, der Lampe, der Kinder, der Eltern

Watch out: the order is the reverse of English The owner comes after the thing owned: das Haus meines Vaters (my father's house), der Anfang des Films (the beginning of the film). German never puts the genitive before the noun, with one exception: names (below).

Possession in speech: von + dative

In everyday speech Germans often avoid the genitive and use von + dative: das Auto von meinem Vater instead of das Auto meines Vaters. This is normal and correct in conversation. It is also the usual choice when a noun has no article or a plural without an article: ein Freund von mir (a friend of mine), die Häuser von Freunden. In careful writing and after the prepositions below, the genitive is preferred.

Prepositions with the genitive

Preposition	Meaning	Example
wegen	because of	Wegen des Regens bleiben wir zu Hause.
trotz	despite, in spite of	Trotz des Wetters gehen wir spazieren.
während	during	Während der Ferien arbeitet er nicht.
statt / anstatt	instead of	Statt des Autos nehme ich den Bus.
außerhalb / innerhalb	outside / inside, within	außerhalb der Stadt · innerhalb einer Woche

Spoken German: wegen dem Wetter In conversation you will often hear the dative after wegen, trotz and während: wegen dem Wetter. This is common speech, but in writing, in exams and in formal situations use the genitive: wegen des Wetters.

Names in the genitive

With proper names the genitive is simply -s, written without an apostrophe, and the name comes before the noun with no article: Annas Buch (Anna's book), Peters Bruder, Deutschlands Hauptstadt. If the name already ends in -s, -ß, -x or -z, an apostrophe takes the place of the s: Max' Auto, Hans' Haus. The alternative is von: das Buch von Anna.

A fixed phrase to know

eines Tages (one day), eines Morgens (one morning) are genitive phrases of time. They are fixed: you can use them as they stand.

🗣️ In Use — Im Gebrauch

The rules in real sentences. Read each exchange aloud and spot the pattern.

① Whose car?

A:Wessen Auto ist das?Whose car is that?

B:Das ist das Auto meines Vaters.That is my father's car.

A:Und das Fahrrad? Ist das Annas Fahrrad?And the bicycle? Is that Anna's bicycle?

B:Nein, das ist das Fahrrad von Max.No, that's Max's bicycle.

② Bad weather

A:Gehen wir heute spazieren?Shall we go for a walk today?

B:Wegen des Regens lieber nicht. Statt des Spaziergangs können wir ins Kino gehen.Because of the rain, better not. Instead of a walk we can go to the cinema.

③ The holidays

A:Arbeitest du während der Ferien?Do you work during the holidays?

B:Nein, aber trotz der Ferien stehe ich früh auf.No, but despite the holidays I get up early.

📋 Quick Reference — Kurzübersicht

	Masc.	Fem.	Neuter	Plural
Genitive	des -(e)s	der	des -(e)s	der
Prepositions	wegen, trotz, während, statt / anstatt, außerhalb, innerhalb
Names	Annas Buch · Max' Auto · das Buch von Anna
Speech	von + dative replaces the genitive

✏️ Try It Yourself — Übungen

Say the answer first, then click to check.

1. Fill in the genitive: das Auto ___ Mann___ (the man).

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das Auto des Mannes.

2. Fill in: das Haus ___ Frau and die Bücher ___ Kinder.

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das Haus der Frau, die Bücher der Kinder: feminine and plural use der with no change to the noun.

3. Add the ending: des Haus___, des Lehrer___, des Student___.

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des Hauses (one syllable, -es), des Lehrers (longer word, -s), des Studenten (weak noun, -en).

4. Say "my father's house" in the genitive and with von.

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das Haus meines Vaters / das Haus von meinem Vater.

5. Say "Anna's book" and "Max's car."

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Annas Buch (no apostrophe) and Max' Auto (apostrophe, because the name ends in -x).

6. Fill in: wegen ___ Wetter___ (the weather, neuter).

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wegen des Wetters.

7. Say "during the holidays" and "instead of the car."

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während der Ferien, statt des Autos.

8. What is the genitive of der Name?

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des Namens: a special weak noun with -ns.

9. Which sounds more natural in a friendly chat: das Auto meines Vaters or das Auto von meinem Vater?

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das Auto von meinem Vater: von + dative is the usual spoken form, while the genitive suits writing.

Coming up in Chapter 9: Adjective Endings After an Article. You will meet the weak and mixed endings (der gute Mann, ein guter Mann), a table to remember them by, and adjectives used as nouns (der Deutsche).