Genitive in German: des, der and the -s ending
The genitive answers wessen? (whose?). der and das become des and the noun adds -s or -es; die and the plural become der.
The table
| Case | masc. | fem. | neut. | pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (wer?) | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative (wen?) | den | die | das | die |
| Dative (wem?) | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitive (wessen?) | des | der | des | der |
In the dative plural the noun adds -n: den Kindern. In the genitive, masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es: des Hundes.
Whose is it?
Die Katze nimmt den Apfel des Hundes.The cat takes the dog's apple. das Auto des Vatersthe father's car die Farbe der Blumethe colour of the flower das Spielzeug der Kinderthe children's toys-s or -es?
Short masculine and neuter nouns, and those ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z or -sch, usually take -es: des Hundes, des Fuchses, des Tisches. Longer ones take -s: des Vaters, des Computers. Feminine nouns and plurals never add an ending.
A few masculine nouns take -n or -en in every case but the nominative: der Junge → des Jungen, der Student → des Studenten.
In everyday German
Spoken German often uses von with the dative instead: das Auto vom Vater. The genitive stays in writing and after wegen, trotz and während: wegen des Wettersbecause of the weather
Remember it with a picture
Nounland puts every noun in its world, each named after a noun with the same article: der like der Schnee, die like die Flamme, das like das Blatt. Picture the world, and the article comes back. Over 300 words are free, no app store needed.
Try Nounland free