Genitive case and possession

In brief

The genitive case shows whose something is or what it belongs to. In a phrase like die Farbe des Hauses (the color of the house), the thing being described comes first; the owner or related noun follows in the genitive. You will often see this pattern in writing and more formal speech.

Form

Definite articles: masculine/neuter des + noun ending -s or -es (des Hauses); feminine/plural der (der Frau, der Kinder). Possessive articles follow the same pattern: meines Bruders, meiner Schwester. Names usually add -s without an apostrophe: Annas Tasche.

Usage

• Use the genitive to link a person or thing to something associated with it: das Fahrrad meines Bruders.
• For a name, put its genitive form before the thing owned: Annas Schlüssel.
• In everyday conversation, von plus dative is also common for possession; the genitive is especially useful in written German.

Examples

• Das ist das Fahrrad meines Bruders. — That is my brother’s bike.
• Die Farbe des Hauses gefällt mir. — I like the color of the house.
• Die Spielsachen der Kinder liegen im Wohnzimmer. — The children’s toys are in the living room.
• Annas Schlüssel liegen auf dem Tisch. — Anna’s keys are on the table.

Common mistake

❌ Das ist das Fahrrad meines Bruder.

✅ Das ist das Fahrrad meines Bruders.

After meines, the masculine noun Bruder also needs the genitive ending -s: meines Bruders.

Remember

For a masculine or neuter noun, remember both the genitive article and the noun ending. German names normally take -s without the English apostrophe.