A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a
A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a
A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a
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Offl<strong>in</strong>e Textbook | A <strong>Foundation</strong> <strong>Course</strong> <strong>in</strong> Read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>German</strong><br />
https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/read<strong>in</strong>ggerman/pr<strong>in</strong>t-entire-textbook/<br />
Page 16 of 151<br />
12/8/2017<br />
2. Genitive and Dative Cases<br />
Whereas English has only t<strong>in</strong>y traces of three noun cases (nom<strong>in</strong>ative, objective,<br />
and possessive – l<strong>in</strong>k opens <strong>in</strong> new w<strong>in</strong>dow), <strong>German</strong> is thoroughly dependent on four<br />
noun cases. Beyond nom<strong>in</strong>ative and accusative, which were covered <strong>in</strong> Unit 1, we<br />
now add the genitive and dative cases.<br />
Genitive<br />
Genitive case signals a relationship of possession or “belong<strong>in</strong>g to.” An example<br />
translation of this case <strong>in</strong>to English might be from das Buch des Mannes to “the<br />
man’s book” or “the book of the man.” In English, possession is usually shown by<br />
either an end<strong>in</strong>g (apostrophe + s) or with the preposition “of.” In <strong>German</strong>, the<br />
genitive case is primarily recognized from article forms and sometimes from noun<br />
end<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER<br />
DEFINITE<br />
das Buch des Mannes<br />
das Buch der Frau<br />
das Buch des<br />
ARTICLE<br />
(the man’s book)<br />
(the woman’s<br />
book)<br />
Mädchens<br />
(the girl’s book)<br />
INDEFINITE<br />
das Buch e<strong>in</strong>es<br />
das Buch e<strong>in</strong>er<br />
das Buch e<strong>in</strong>es<br />
ARTICLE<br />
Mannes<br />
(a man’s book)<br />
Frau<br />
(a woman’s book)<br />
Mädchens<br />
(a girl’s book)<br />
PLURAL<br />
DEFINITE<br />
die Bücher der Frauen<br />
ARTICLE<br />
(the women’s books)<br />
INDEFINITE<br />
die Bücher ke<strong>in</strong>er<br />
ARTICLE<br />
Frauen<br />
(no women’s books)<br />
Note:<br />
1. The noun <strong>in</strong> the genitive case follows the noun which it modifies.<br />
2. des and e<strong>in</strong>es are useful forms to remember because they are completely<br />
unique to the s<strong>in</strong>gular genitive case and are thus helpful as start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>ts to<br />
figure out the grammatical structure of a sentence.<br />
3. Mascul<strong>in</strong>e and neuter nouns change forms <strong>in</strong> the genitive case (when s<strong>in</strong>gular).<br />
The noun end<strong>in</strong>gs –s or –es are added (-s for polysyllabic nouns, –es for<br />
monosyllabic).
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