4.8 The genitive — possession and the -s — Epoché
What you will be able to do Form the genitive in all genders: des Mannes , des Vaters , der Frau , der Kinder . Choose between the endings -s and -es on masculine and neuter nouns. Write the genitive of names, Goethes and Italiens , without the apostrophe English uses. Recognise that spoken German often replaces the genitive with von and the dative, and know when each is the better choice. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the German aloud; all of them come back below. German English Statt mit dir habe ich mit deinem Freund gesprochen. [1] I spoke to your friend instead of you. Woher kennst du dich so gut in der Geschichte Japans aus? [2] How come you know so much about Japanese history? Teil dein Mittagessen mit deinem Bruder. [3] Share your lunch with your brother. Das ist die beste Zeit des Jahres. [4] This is the best time of the year. Der Vater meines Freundes ist ein Freund meines Vaters. [5] My friend's father is friends with my father. Mein Nachbar ist der beste Freund meines Vaters. [6] My neighbor is my father's best friend. Wenn du mein Freund werden willst, dann werde auch der Freund meines Freundes. [7] If you want to become my friend, then also become the friend of my friend. Prerequisites : 4.7 — you need the genitive row of the article table from 4.2 Cases and von with the dative from 4.5 Cases . The genitive has been with you since the first lesson of this volume as the fourth row of the table and the question word wessen . It is the least frequent case in speech and the most frequent in serious writing, and that split is the key to it. You need to read it fluently from now on, because every newspaper and every book uses it, and you need to be able to produce it in writing. In conversation you have a simpler alternative. Table The genitive marks the owner, or more generally the noun that another noun belongs to. In German it usually comes after the noun it belongs to. Gender Definite Indefinite and possessive Noun ending Masculine des Vaters , des Mannes eines Mannes , meines Vaters -s or -es Neuter des Zimmers , des Hauses eines Kindes , meines Hauses -s or -es Feminine der Frau einer Frau , meiner Mutter none Plural der Kinder meiner Kinder none The choice between -s and -es follows three tendencies. After a hissing sound — s, ß, x, z — the ending must be -es : des Hauses . After a noun of one syllable, -es is usual: des Mannes , des Kindes , des Jahres . After a noun of more than one syllable, -s is usual: des Vaters , des Zimmers , des Konzerts . Between these tendencies there is room for choice, and both forms appear in good writing; you will see an example below. Feminine nouns and plurals never take an ending in the genitive. The article alone carries the case, which is why it looks so much like the dative. The genitive in real sentences After the noun, with an article. This is the normal written position. German English Das ist das Haus meines Vaters. [8] This is my father's house. Das Auto meines Vaters ist neu. [9] My father's car is new. Das ist der beste Film des Jahres. [10] It's the best movie of the year. Er stand in der Mitte des Zimmers. [11] He stood in the middle of the room. Ein Teil der Geschichte stimmt. [12] Part of the story is true. Pizza ist das Lieblingsgericht der Kinder. [13] Pizza is the children's favourite meal. Two acceptable endings. The same corridor, in two sentences from the corpus. German English Das Klo ist am Ende des Flurs. [14] The loo is at the end of the corridor. Das Bad ist am Ende des Flures. [15] The bathroom is down the hall. Before the noun, with a name. Names of people and countries take a plain -s and usually come before the noun, like English 's , but without an apostrophe. A name can also follow the noun, which sounds more formal. German English Rom ist Italiens Hauptstadt. [16] Rome is Italy's capital. Deutsch wird mitunter als die Sprache Goethes bezeichnet. [17] German is sometimes called Goethe’s language. Er war ein Zeitgenosse Goethes. [18] He was a contemporary of Goethe. Asking the owner. German English Wessen Auto ist das? [19] Whose car is that? The genitive of time. A few fixed phrases use the genitive without a preposition to say when. German English Sie werden eines Tages zurückkommen. [20] They will come back one day. How the spoken language does it In everyday speech the genitive of possession is often replaced by von with the dative. The two sentences below say the same thing; the first is what you would write, the second what most people would say. German English Das ist das Zimmer meines Vaters. [21] This is my father's room. Das ist das Zimmer von meinem Vater. [22] This is my father's room. Ist das das Auto von deinem Freund? [23] Is this your friend's car? This is the change that the title in 4.1 Cases laments: the dative is gradually taking over the genitive's work. You should not imitate the dialect construction in that title, but the von construction is fully standard in speech and acceptable in informal writing. Use the genitive in anything formal. With a name, the genitive -s before the noun is the usual written form, like English Peter's car , though von with the name is common in speech. With plural nouns that have no article, von is actually required, because the genitive would have nothing to show its case. How English does it English has both patterns too. My father's house and the house of my father are the English counterparts of the two German constructions, but the distribution is the reverse. In English the 's form, before the noun, is the normal one for people, and of after the noun is used for things: the end of the year , not the year's end in ordinary speech. In German the genitive after the noun is the normal written form for both people and things, and only names stand before. The ending is the same ending. English 's and German -s are one inheritance. Old English wrote þæs cyninges , of the king , with the same ending as German des Königs . The apostrop