How do you form the genitive case in German?

There are 2 ways to form the genitive in German:

  1. add an ‘s’ to names or family member terms that come directly in front of the noun they’re modifying.
  2. use the structure modified noun + determiner (and/or +adjectives) + modifying noun which requires genitive case declensions on the determiner and/or adjective(s)

How do you use genitive case?

The genitive case is a grammatical case for nouns and pronouns. It is most commonly used for showing possession. Typically, forming the genitive case involves adding an apostrophe followed by “s” to the end of a noun.

How is genitive in German?

The German genitive case is the case that shows possession and is expressed in English by the possessive “of” or an apostrophe (‘s). The German genitive case is also used with the genitive prepositions and some verb idioms. The genitive is used more in written German and is hardly used in spoken language.

Where do adjectives go in German sentences?

German adjectives come before the noun, as in English, and are usually not capitalized. However, as in French and other Indo-European languages, they are inflected when they come before a noun. That is, they take an ending that depends on the gender, case, and number of the noun phrase.

What is the genitive case in German grammar?

The genitive case ( 2. Fall/Wessen-Fall in German) indicates possession. We use genitive after certain prepositions, verbs, and adjectives. Articles, nouns, pronouns and adjectives have to be declined to reflect the genitive case.

What is the genitive ending of a German word?

When you take a look at a German dictionary, you may notice that next to the nouns there are two endings. The first one is the genitive ending and the second one is the plural ending. The noun endings for the genitive will be fairly simple.

Are German adjective endings confusing?

German adjective endings might look confusing, but there are better and worse ways to get them into your head. Some German grammar guides simply present the strong/weak/mixed endings as a boring collection of tables that need to be memorised, but this is a bad way to learn.

What is an example of a genitive case?

For our purposes, let’s loosely define the genitive case as indicating possession. (English professors look away!) For example, ‘ children’s songs’ means songs for children. They’re not owned by the children per se, but in a broad sense, yes, those songs belong to the children (not to the adults).