Genitive Case

What you’ve learned up to now. MasculineFeminineNeuterPlural Nominativederdiedasdie Accusativedendiedasdie Dativedemderdemden

Add the genitive definite articles to your notes. Masculine Feminine Neuter MasculineFeminineNeuterPlural Nominativederdiedasdie Accusativedendiedasdie Dativedemderdemden Genitivedesderdesder

Add the genitive indefinite articles to your notes. MasculineFeminineNeuterplural Nominativeeineineeinkeine Accusativeeineneineeinkeine Dativeeinemeinereinemkeinen Genitiveeineseinereineskeiner

When do we use genitive? The genitive case is used in two situations: As a possessive – whenever you would use the phrase “of the.” With a group of prepositons

Genitive as a possessive One would use genitive whenever one would use the phrase “of the.” The page of the book is red. Die Seite des Buches ist rot. The corner of the room is quiet.Die Ecke des Zimmers ist ruhig. (Think of it as a prepositional phrase with OF as the preposition.)

How about other types of possessives? A form that is rarely used in English and becoming less common in German is the following: The car of the man is really cool. Das Auto des Mannes ist total cool. You might see this in written German, but most people would say, “Der Manns Auto ist total cool.” (no apostrophe) Pretty simple, right?

What?? Did I see a bunch of extra letters??? Ok, there are a couple of confusing things: Masculine and neuter one-syllable nouns add an –es after the article. Der Computer meines Sohnes ist neu. (The computer of my son is new.) Masculine and neuter multi-syllable nouns add an –s after the article. Die Frau meines Bruders ist hübsch. (The wife of my brother is pretty.) Feminine and plural nouns don’t add any ending. Der Mann meiner Schwester ist sehr nett. (The husband of my sister is nice.)

Is genitive only found after the nominative case? Genitive case can be used anywhere. The other nouns follow their normal pattern. Think of it as a prepositional phrase – an island all its own. blue – subj. green – DO purple – IO orange – OP Wir kaufen der Tochter des Lehrers ein Geschenk. Ich habe die Schwester meines Freundes gesehen. Wir gehen ins Kino mit der Freundin der Schülerin.

Genitive Prepositions There are only four main prepositions that take genitive: anstatt – instead of Anstatt des Mantels trage ich eine kleine Jacke. trotz – in spite of Trotz des Wetters spielen wir Fußball. während – duringWährend des Filmes habe ich geschlafen. wegen – because ofWegen der Arbeit komme ich leider nicht.

Ok. Time to practice. Turn to page 156 in your book.