Topic 1 — Genitiv (Genitive Case)

Topic 1 — Genitiv (Genitive Case)

These notes cover the first topic in your PDF: Genitiv, with a focus on revision + correcting common mistakes. The chapter explains that the genitive mainly shows possession/ownership, and that the German genitive phrase normally comes after the thing being possessed. Document from

1. What does the Genitiv do?

Think of it as “whose?”

Das ist die Tasche meines Vaters.
= That is my father’s bag.

Ask:

Wessen Tasche ist das?
Whose bag is that?

→ meines Vaters

More examples from the chapter:

• das Auto meiner Tante

• die Meinung der Gäste

• das Spielzeug meines Babys Document from

2. The most important Genitiv table

The main pattern is:

Masculine + Neuter → -es on the article/determiner
Feminine + Plural → -er on the article/determiner. Document from

3. The noun itself can also change

For masculine and neuter nouns, the noun normally gets -s or -es.

Examples:

der Mann → des Mannes
der Computer → des Computers

The chapter explains that shorter nouns often take -es, while longer nouns usually take -s. Feminine and plural nouns normally receive no extra noun ending. Document from

So:

der Vater → meines Vaters
das Kind → des Kindes

But:

die Frau → der Frau
not der Fraus

die Gäste → der Gäste
not der Gästes

The pattern you should memorize

Masculine

der → des + noun-(e)s

der Bruder → das Auto des Bruders

Neuter

das → des + noun-(e)s

das Kind → das Spielzeug des Kindes

Feminine

die → der

die Mutter → das Auto der Mutter

Plural

die → der

die Studenten → die Bücher der Studenten

4. With possessive words

The same endings appear on words such as mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser.

Masculine / Neuter

mein → meines

• meines Vaters

• meines Bruders

• meines Kindes

Feminine / Plural

mein → meiner

• meiner Mutter

• meiner Schwester

• meiner Eltern

The PDF specifically gives meines Mannes / meiner Frau / meines Kindes / meiner Gäste as the pattern. Document from

5. No apostrophe in German

This is a very common English-speaker mistake.

English:

Peter's book

German:

Peters Buch

NOT:

Peter's Buch

The chapter explicitly says that German does not use an apostrophe when adding the possessive -s. Document from

Correct

Das ist Peters Buch.

Wrong

Das ist Peter's Buch.

6. Genitive prepositions

Some prepositions are normally followed by the Genitiv.

The chapter lists:

• wegen = because of / due to

• trotz = despite / in spite of

• während = during

• statt / anstatt = instead of

• außerhalb = outside of

• innerhalb = inside of Document from Document from

Examples:

wegen eines Unfalls
because of an accident

während des Mittagessens
during lunch

trotz ihres hohen Alters
despite her old age

For B1 written German, it is safest to learn these with Genitiv.

7. Spoken German: von + Dativ

In everyday spoken German, possession is often expressed using:

von + Dativ

Formal / Genitiv:

Das ist das Auto meines Bruders.

Common spoken version:

Das ist das Auto von meinem Bruder.

The PDF specifically mentions this as a common replacement for the genitive in spoken German. Document from

For your B1 exam, however, you should still be able to recognize and form the Genitiv.

8. Fixed expressions with Genitiv

The chapter also gives expressions such as:

eines Morgens
= one morning

eines Sonntags
= one Sunday

eines schönen Tages
= one fine day

dieser Tage
= these days / one of these days depending on context. Document from

You don't need to build these from scratch every time; learning them as expressions is easier.

Error-correction section

These are the mistakes to watch for most carefully.

Wrong

Das ist das Auto meines Bruder.

Correct

Das ist das Auto meines Bruders.

Because masculine noun → usually add -s/-es.

Wrong

Das ist die Tasche meiner Vaters.

Correct

Das ist die Tasche meines Vaters.

Vater = masculine, therefore:

mein → meines

Wrong

Das ist das Buch meines Mutter.

Correct

Das ist das Buch meiner Mutter.

Mutter = feminine, therefore:

mein → meiner

Wrong

Das ist Peter's Auto.

Correct

Das ist Peters Auto.

No apostrophe.

Wrong

wegen einen Unfall

Correct

wegen eines Unfalls

For the grammar expected here:

wegen + Genitiv

Wrong

das Auto von meines Bruders

Correct

das Auto von meinem Bruder

Because von always takes Dativ.

Compare:

das Auto meines Bruders → Genitiv
das Auto von meinem Bruder → von + Dativ

10-second exam rule

When you see possession, ask:

Wessen? → Genitiv

Then identify the gender:

Masculine → des / eines / meines + noun-(e)s
Neuter → des / eines / meines + noun-(e)s
Feminine → der / einer / meiner
Plural → der / meiner

The easiest memory formula is:

Genitiv articles: ES – ER – ES – ER

Masculine = -es
Feminine = -er
Neuter = -es
Plural = -er

And remember:

Masculine + Neuter nouns usually also get -(e)s.