What is the genitive?

The genitive (in German: Genitiv) represents the second of the four cases, which exist in German grammar, and serves as an indication of possession. Thus, a noun must be in the genitive case if ownership or affiliation is to be expressed. This noun then answers the question “Whose?”. Based on this question, the genitive is also called the whose case.

Compare the use of the genitive in the following example sentences in detail:

• The appearance of the genitive (2nd case) as a grammatical modifier/attribute:
  • Example sentence: „Ich lieh mir das Auto meines Freundes.“ (I borrowed my friend’s car.)
    • Checking question: „Wessen Auto lieh ich mir?“ (Whose car did I borrow?)
    • Answer: „Das meines Freundes.“ (My friend’s car.)
  • Example sentence: „Das Dach des Hauses stürzte während des Sturms ein.“ (The roof of the house collapsed during the storm.)
    • Checking question: „Wessen Dach stürzte ein?“ (Whose roof collapsed?)
    • Answer: „Das des Hauses.“ (That of the house.)
• Also, the genitive often appears in conjunction with specific prepositions:
  • Some example sentences are:
    • „Es fahren wegen der hohen Benzinpreise immer mehr Leute mit dem Fahrrad zur Arbeit.“ (More and more people cycle to work because of high gas prices.)
    • „Angesichts des drohenden Unwetters bauten sie die Zelte wieder ab.“ (Faced with the imminent storm, they took down their tents again.)
  • Additional genitive prepositions that occur repeatedly are:
    • während (during), trotz (despite), aufgrund (due to), innerhalb (within), außerhalb (outside), mangels (for lack of), infolge (as a result), statt (instead of), anhand (based on), etc.
• Moreover, there is the genitive object, which is rarely used, however. As a limitation, it can only combine with specific verbs:
  • Example sentences that include such verbs are:
    • „Der Minister bediente sich des Mikrofons und begann seine Rede.“ (The minister took the microphone and began his speech.)
    • „Maria ist wieder erschienen; sie erfreut sich bester Gesundheit.“ (Maria has reappeared; she is in excellent health.)
  • Other verbs that may be utilized with the genitive object accordingly:
    • sich besinnen (to focus), gedenken (commemorate), sich erinnern (remember), bedürfen (need), ermangeln (lack), etc.

Comparison of using the genitive and dative with ‘wegen’ and ‘während’

A peculiarity of the German language is the colloquial use of the dative case for some prepositions, especially ‘wegen’ (because of) and ‘während’ (during). However, these words require the genitive according to standard grammar rules.

• Some examples that show the usage of ‘während’ and ‘wegen’ with the genitive case (officially correct):
  • „Wegen des Staus kam er nicht mehr rechtzeitig zur Arbeit.“ (Because of the traffic jam, he was unable to get to work in time.)
  • „Während des Telefonats klingelte sein Nachbar an der Tür.“ (During the phone call, his neighbour rang the doorbell.)
• Yet, hearing the following constellations is relatively frequent and accepted:
  • „Wegen dem Stau kam er nicht mehr rechtzeitig zur Arbeit.“ (Because of the traffic jam, he was unable to get to work in time.)
    • ‘dem Stau’ is in the dative.
  • „Während dem Telefonat klingelte sein Nachbar an der Tür.“ (During the phone call, his neighbour rang the doorbell.)
    • This combination of article and noun shows the dative case too.

Further explanations related to the ‘Genitive in German grammar’

The following explanations relate to the topic ‘The genitive or second case of the four German grammatical cases’ and could also be interesting:

• The four cases in German grammar
• Prepositions in German grammar