The genitive case pronouns are rarely used in all but the most formal settings. Instead we use genitive demonstrative pronouns, getting structures like während dessen [in the meantime], Note that in English the so-called "possessive pronouns" ("my", "his", "her", "whose" etc.) It is almost completely replaced by the dative case in everyday speech & writing. A genitive can also serve purposes indicating other relationships. The nominative case is used to show the subject of a sentence and after the verbs, sein and werden. 'A girl' is in this case as she possesses the dog. 'My son' is in this case as he 'possesses' the girlfriend. German speakers can also use prepositions and frequently do so for spoken language. The genitive case is used to denote ownership. Click here to find out which long German words are Guinness World Record breakers and which one involves this very famous European river! The German genitive case, which indicates possession, is sometimes replaced by "von" or the dative, but using it is still a vital part of German. How can I identify the genitive case in German? We use genitive after certain prepositions, verbs, and adjectives. We can use the question wessen (whose) to find the genitive case in German. Genitive prepositions do not form "da-" compounds. For example:-This is my brother's car. Pauls Sohn und dessen Freunde haben Hunger. Are you the man's wife? We use the genitive to express possession or ownership. Nor is the interrogative wessen (= "whose"). Some verbs officially still take the genitive, although many native speakers will use the accusative instead. This form will be especially favoured in spoken German. (or in a plural that already ends in "-s", with just the apostrophe): The grammar-police find that appalling, but in fact the dative is actually the older form. Genitive case signals a relationship of possession or “belonging to.” An example translation of this case into English might be from das Buch des Mannes to “the man’s book” or “the book of the man.” In English, possession is usually shown by either an ending (apostrophe + s) or with the preposition “of.” In German, the genitive case is primarily recognized from article forms and sometimes … It is widely rumored that the genitive case is falling out of usage in German. The 'brother' is possessing the car. A frequent alternative to the genitive case is a prepositional phrase with "of": "the color of the car" (= "the car's color"). German has four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. When just a masculine or neuter noun follows the preposition 'The child' is in this case as he/she possesses the food. Only when using the possessive form of a person's name or a thing, should you add an 's' as we do to English, just without an apostrophe. 'The teacher' is in this case as he possesses the book. The "ein-words" are ein, kein, and the possessive pronouns: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr, ihr. The former can be in any case, but the latter is in the genitive: Note that the genitive noun comes second. Here are the answers to a few questions you might have about the German genitive case: 1.) Possessive pronoun endings in the genitive case(i.e. Typically, dictionaries identify weak nouns by giving not only the plural but also the weak ending: "der Junge (-n, -n) — In addition to affecting articles, pronouns, and adjectives, with masculine and neuter nouns, an –es or –s ending is also added to the noun. How can I identify the genitive case in German? So, what you need to know is that you really don’t have to learn the genitive case — you can manage everyday situations just fine without it. Die meisten Glaubenslehrer verteidigen ihre Sätze nicht, weil sie von der Wahrheit derselben überzeugt sind, sondern weil sie diese Wahrheit einmal behauptet haben. Sie ist eines Nachts weggelaufen. The genitive is used to indicate an indefinite day or part of the day: Although Nacht is feminine, it here - and only here - assumes an analogous structure: Using the Genitive Case in German: Germans will often assert that the genitive is disappearing from the language. In my experience it's really one of the most enjoyable - and best available - systems for learning German quickly. Definite articles change their form in this case to the following: Das Buch des Lehrers (The teacher's book). Die Handtasche deiner Mutter (Your mother's handbag). It is certainly used less than one or two centuries ago, but it still occupies an important position. Notice the additional -es at the end of 'Haus'. "the horse's mouth"; "the books' covers." The genitive case indicates possession. Meine Brüder und deren Kinder sind schon angekommen. A number of prepositions take a genitive object. The placing it first, as in English, makes it sound either archaic or poetic: Proper names in the genitive do precede the noun, however. The genitive case is the fourth, final, and least used German case. the various forms of 'the'). Increasingly, writers' manuals call for an "-'s" in those cases as well ("Louis's book"), the possessing noun is typically placed before the other and marked as genitive with an ending of "-'s" The accusative case is used to show the direct object of a sentence and after certain prepositions. Notice the additional -es at the end of 'Sohn'. Possession. It’s not used as often as the other cases, but still has its own importance, because the genitive in German means possession, or in other words it means the expression “of…” or “’s”. The following are examples of use of the genitive case German pronouns: Die Kinder meiner Tante “the children of my aunt/my aunt’s children”. See below for a discussion of when the genitive is used in German, but first we will examine how it is configured. Jesu Christi. I will highlight where necessary the changes in blue. They include anlässlich [on the occasion of], angesichts [in the face of; in view of], The genitive case has four functions. Wir danken im Namen derer, die in Nöte geraten sind. 'The men' are in this case as they possess the shirts. Notice how in all three of these tables the possesser always follows that which is possessed. Primarily, the genitive designates a relationship between two nouns in which one of them belongs to the other. It is almost completely replaced by the dative case in everyday speech & writing. they all change their form, and some nouns themselves change form. Nevertheless, it's important to know about the genitive case because you will still encounter it in writing and you will need to be able to recognize it. Let's take a look at these changes with the help of the following three tables. You just need to add an 'es' to the end of the masculine possessive pronoun, an 'er' to the end of the feminine one and an 'es' again to the end of the neuter one. In English, we use the "apostrophe s" or prepositions to do this.