LEKTION 15
Declension: Genitive (I)
In German, the genitive often marks a noun as the possessor of another noun:
| Der Wagen des Freundes |
The friend's car |
| Das Haus des Bruders |
The brother's house |
| Der Hund des Vaters |
The father's dog |
The noun, article and adjective all have to appear in the same case:
| Der Hut des jungen Freundes |
The young friend's hat |
| Die Jacke meines kleinen Bruders |
My younger brother's jacket |
| Das Hemd deiner jungen Frau |
You young wife's shirt |
The genitive case is the most complex declension. Some dictionaries will indicate the genitive and the plural form of each noun.
However, below you will see some basic rules that you can follow:
SINGULAR
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a) A group which most nouns belong to - they all add the ending "-(e)s":
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"-s": nouns with more than one syllable and nouns ending in a vowel:
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| |
Masculine |
Des Bruders |
Of the brother |
| |
Neutral |
Des Wagens |
Of the car |
| |
"-es": nouns that end in "-s", "-ss", "x", "tsch", "z", numerous monosyllable nouns and nouns of more than one syllable, with the last syllable being a tonic syllable:
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Masculino |
Des Prozesses |
Of the process |
|
Neutro |
Des Präfixes |
Of the prefix |
|
Masculino |
Des Baues |
Of the construction |
b) A reduced number of masculine nouns add "-(e)n":
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| |
"-n": those that end in "-e" and which generally refer to living beings:
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Masculine |
Des Löwen |
Of the lion |
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Neutral |
Des Boten |
Of the messenger |
| |
"-en": nouns ending in consonants and that generally refer to human beings:
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Masculine |
Des Helden |
Of the heroe |
|
Neutral |
Des Demonstranten |
Of the protester |
c) A third group which nearly all the feminine nouns belong to:
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Feminine |
Der Stadt |
Of the city |
PLURAL
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a) The genitive plural of all of the genders (masculine, feminine and neutral) is identical to the nominative plural:
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Plural |
Der Tage |
Of the days |
|
Plural |
Der Hände |
Of the hands |
VOCABULARY
| Aeroplane |
Flugzeug (n) |
Motorbike |
Motorrad (n) |
| Helicopter |
Hubschrauber (m) |
Bike |
Fahrrad (n) |
| Rocket |
Rakete (f) |
Boat |
Schiff (n) |
| Car |
Wagen (m) |
Small boat |
Boot (n) |
| Van |
Lieferwagen (m) |
Sailing boat |
Segelschiff (n) |
| Lorry |
Lastwagen (m) |
Yacht |
Yacht (f) |
| Bus |
Bus (m) |
Submarine |
Unterseeboot (n) |
| Train |
Zug (m) |
Oil tanker |
Tanker (m) |
| Tram |
Strassenbahn (f) |
Cruise ship |
Kreuzer (m) |
| Metro |
U-Bahn (f) |
Aircraft carrier |
Flugzeugträger (m) |
| Small plane |
Sportflugzeug (n) |
Van |
Lieferwagen (m) |
| Taxi |
Taxi (n) |
