Genitive Case - Functions

Genitive Case

Functions

Nouns use the genitive case:

when they indicate possession, or a relationship to another noun similar to that expressed by "of" in English
when they are the object of a genitive preposition
when they are the object of a verb which requires the genitive
when they are used in conjunction with certain special expressions
when they are used in expressions of indefinite time.

1) Was ist der Name des Politikers?
2) Während der Nacht bleibt es kühl.
3) Man bedarf oft der Ruhe.
4) Er ist dieses Themas kundig.
5) Wir sprechen eines Tages davon. What is the politician's name?
During the night it stays cool.
One often has need of rest.
He is expert in this topic.
We will talk about it some day.

Forms

The definite and indefinite articles in the genitive case are:

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

Definite
Indefinite des Mannes
eines Mannes der Frau
einer Frau des Kindes
eines Kindes der Leute
keiner Leute

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Definite Indefinite	des Mannes eines Mannes	der Frau einer Frau	des Kindes eines Kindes	der Leute keiner Leute

Other noun modifiers follow the same pattern:

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

der-words
ein-words dieses Mannes
meines Mannes welcher Frau
seiner Frau jedes Kindes
ihres Kindes mancher Leute
deiner Leute

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
der-words ein-words	dieses Mannes meines Mannes	welcher Frau seiner Frau	jedes Kindes ihres Kindes	mancher Leute deiner Leute

Note that the masculine and neuter uses the -es ending on both the article and the noun.

Some masculine nouns, primarily those which denote a male person, add an -(e)n ending rather than -(e)s ending to the noun itself in the genitive case. These are called masculine N-nouns. They are listed in the dictionary as with an extra -en ending before the plural ending, e.g., der Mensch, -en, -en.