A noun is in the genitive case when it is a attribute of another noun or when it indicates possession. German usually use the question “Wessen?” to determine the genitive element of a sentence.
Genitive case with names
In German, when using the genitive case with names, you typically add an -s to the end of the name to indicate possession, similar to how 's is used in English. However, there are a few specific rules:
a) Adding -s for Most Names:
For most names, especially those that don’t end in -s, -ß, -x, -z, or -tz, simply add -s.
a) Apostrophe аor Names Ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z, or -tz:
You don’t add an -s. Instead, add just an apostrophe after the name. Thomas’ Auto (Thomas’ car)
Prepositions
There are some prepositions which take the Genitiv:
- während (during)
- trotz (despite)
- wegen (because of)
- statt (instead of)
Artikles
When forming the Genitiv, the ending -s or -es is added to masculine and neuter nouns. These endings are called Genitiv-S.
Feminine nouns and plural forms have no ending in the genitive case.
| Noun | wegen + Genitiv |
| der Unfall (masculine) | wegen des Unfalls |
| das Auto (neuter) | wegen des Autos |
| die Corona-Krise (feminine) | wegen der Corona-Krise |
| die Baustellen (plural) | wegen der Baustellen |
You may have heard people use "wegen" with the Dativ instead of the Genitiv. So what does that mean?
The Genitiv is sometimes replaced by the Dativ in spoken German, and you may hear "wegen" + Dativ used colloquially. But it's best to use "wegen" with the Genitiv.