The genitive case

Das Auto meines Vaters, das Ende des Tages: the genitive shows that something belongs to someone. It is more common in writing than in speech, but every B1 learner needs to recognise and use it.

By the Desi European Tales editorial team · Updated 1 November 2026

What the genitive does

The genitive mainly expresses possession or a close connection between two nouns, like English 's or of. The noun in the genitive usually comes after the noun it describes:

das Auto meines Vaters – my father's car
die Farbe des Hauses – the colour of the house
der Name der Lehrerin – the teacher's name
am Ende des Tages – at the end of the day
die Wohnung meiner Eltern – my parents' flat

The question word is wessen? (whose?): Wessen Tasche ist das? – Das ist die Tasche meiner Schwester.

The forms

	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
definite	des Vaters	der Mutter	des Kindes	der Kinder
indefinite / possessive	eines / meines Vaters	einer / meiner Mutter	eines / meines Kindes	meiner Kinder
with adjective	des alten Vaters	der alten Mutter	des kleinen Kindes	der kleinen Kinder

Three things to notice:

Masculine and neuter nouns get an ending: -s or -es. Short nouns, especially those ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z, take -es: des Hauses, des Tages, des Fußes. Longer nouns take -s: des Computers, des Vaters.
Feminine and plural nouns get no ending: der Frau, der Kinder.
Adjectives always end in -en after an article in the genitive.

Nouns of the n-declension take -n or -en instead of -s: des Kollegen, des Studenten, des Herrn.

Names and spoken German

Names

With names, add -s and put the name before the noun, without an article: Ravis Fahrrad, Meeras Wohnung, Deutschlands Hauptstadt. In standard German there is normally no apostrophe. If a name ends in -s, -ß, -x or -z, write only an apostrophe: Klaus' Auto.

von + dative

In everyday speech, many Germans replace the genitive with von + dative:

das Auto meines Vaters → das Auto von meinem Vater
die Wohnung meiner Eltern → die Wohnung von meinen Eltern

Both are correct. Use the genitive in letters, emails to offices and exams. With names, von is also common in speech: das Handy von Ravi. When there is no article, von is often the only natural option: die Preise von Wohnungen in München.

Tips

Learn the genitive prepositions too: wegen, während, trotz, statt are the main reason the genitive is alive in everyday German.
Look for the -s on the noun. If you write des, the masculine or neuter noun after it nearly always needs -s or -es: des Hauses, not des Haus.
Fixed expressions are worth learning: eines Tages (one day), meines Erachtens (in my opinion), letzten Endes (in the end).
Do not stack too many genitives. die Tasche der Freundin der Schwester meines Kollegen is correct but hard to read.

Common mistakes

Not quite	Correct	Why
Die Farbe des Haus ist schön.	Die Farbe des Hauses ist schön.	Masculine and neuter nouns need -s or -es in the genitive.
Das ist das Auto des Ravi.	Das ist Ravis Auto.	With names, add -s and put the name first, without an article.
Der Name der Lehrerins ist Frau Becker.	Der Name der Lehrerin ist Frau Becker.	Feminine nouns never take an ending in the genitive.
Das Büro des Kollegens ist im dritten Stock.	Das Büro des Kollegen ist im dritten Stock.	Kollege belongs to the n-declension: des Kollegen, without -s.

Practice questions

Practise it in the course

Back to the grammar reference or to the B1 lessons.

Sources

Original practice questions written by the Desi European Tales editorial team; they are not the official exam questions. Checked 1 November 2026.

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