The fourth German case, marking possession or a close relationship between two nouns. Increasingly replaced by von + dative in casual speech, but still standard in writing and official German.
| Gender | Definite article | Indefinite article |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | des | eines |
| feminine | der | einer |
| neuter | des | eines |
| plural | der | - |
Masculine and neuter nouns add -s (long nouns) or -es (short/one-syllable nouns, or nouns ending in a sibilant) in the genitive:
| der Mann → des Mannes | the man's / of the man |
| das Kind → des Kindes | the child's / of the child |
| der Computer → des Computers | the computer's / of the computer |
Feminine and plural nouns never take this ending.
The genitive phrase follows the noun it describes: das Auto des Nachbarn (the neighbor's car), am Ende der Straße (at the end of the street).
See Subordinating Conjunctions II and the dedicated genitive-prepositions lesson for the full list (wegen, während, trotz, außerhalb).
Aligned with standard Goethe-Zertifikat B1 / telc B1 exam syllabus topics.