Often the demonstrative pronoun is employed:

In ambiguous situations, the demonstrative possessive pronoun points to the nearest preceding (i.e. the latter) noun:

Pauls Sohn und dessen Freunde haben Hunger.	Paul's son and (Paul's) son's friends are hungry.
	[not: Paul's son and (Paul's) friends are hungry].

When such a pronoun depends on a preceding noun, desselben or derselben can be employed:

Das Mikroskop, Theorie und Anwendung desselben.	The Microscope: its Theory and Use [book title]
Die meisten Glaubenslehrer verteidigen ihre Sätze nicht, weil sie von der Wahrheit derselben überzeugt sind, sondern weil sie diese Wahrheit einmal behauptet haben.	Most doctrinal theologians defend their propositions, not because they are convinced of the truth of them, but because they have at one point asserted that truth. [aphorism by G. C. Lichtenberg]

Further pronoun examples can be found below.

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	[There is room in this subway car for] 2 bicycles. No bringing [a bike] along when this car is traveling at the front of the train.

Uses of the Genitive Case in German:

Germans will often assert that the genitive is disappearing from the language. It is certainly used less than one or two centuries ago, but it still occupies an important position. Primarily, the genitive designates a relationship between two nouns in which one of them belongs to the other. The former can be in any case, but the latter is in the genitive:

Was ist die Telefonnummer deiner schönen Kusine?	What is your beautiful cousin's phone number?
Sie hat den Brief ihres Vaters gar nicht gesehen.	She never saw her father's letter.
Das Bild deiner Frau ist besonders gut.	Your wife's picture is particularly good.
Der Motor dieses Autos ist viel zu klein.	This car's engine is much to small.
Die größte Liebe aller deutschen Männer ist Fußball.	Soccer is all German men's greatest love.
Der Zweck des Spiels ist, den Ball durch den Korb zu werfen.	The point of the game is to put the ball in the basket.




	Success is the sum of correct decisions

• Note that the genitive noun comes second. The opposite sounds either archaic or poetic:

  "Das also war des Pudels Kern!" [Goethes Faust]

  So that was the poodle's core!

  Proper names in the genitive do precede the noun, however. If the name already ends in "-s" or "-z," then an apostrophe added:²

  Was hast du mit Roberts altem Computer gemacht?	What did you do with Robert's old computer?
  Veronikas neuer Freund ist schön.	Veronika's new boyfriend is handsome.
  Heinz' Hut ist wirklich hässlich.	Heinz's hat is really ugly.

  
  

• In colloquial speech Germans often use the preposition von (with the dative, of course) instead of the genitive:

  Ist das der Freund von deinem Bruder?	Is that the friend of your brother?
  Wir suchen das Haus von seiner Mutter.	We're looking for his mother's house.

  The Dative is the Death of the Genitive. A Guide through the Labyrinth of the German Language [book by Bastian Sick]   This "von" construction is always used if there is no article to mark the genitive: Er ist ein Freund von mir. He's a friend of mine. Das Abstellen von Farhrädern ist verboten. The parking of bicycles is forbidden. Uneducated Germans sometimes use the dative and a possessive adjective to create a genitive effect: Bist du dem Mann seine Frau?  Are you the man's wife? The genitive is used to indicate an indefinite day or part of the day: Eines Tages sollen wir das machen. Some day we should do that. Eines Morgens hat er vergessen, sich die Schuhe anzuziehen. One morning he forgot to put his shoes on. Eines Sonntags gehen wir in die Kirche. Some Sunday we'll go to church. Although Nacht is feminine, it here - and only here - assumes an analogous structure: Sie ist eines Nachts weggelaufen. She ran away one night.     "I go to Block House [a chain of steak houses] only because of the salad." "That's what they all say."   A number of prepositions take a genitive object. The most common are statt and anstatt [instead of], trotz [in spite of], wegen [because of] and während [during]. In normal speech, German often use the dative after trotz and wegen. The grammar-police find that appalling, but in fact the dative form is actually older in these cases. Statt eines Regenmantels trägt er einen Schirm.  Instead of a raincoat he carries an umbrella.  Trotz der Kälte wollen wir schwimmen gehen.  Despite the cold we want to go swimming. Wegen der Arbeit meines Vaters mussten wir oft umziehen.  Because of my father's work we often had to move. Wir machen alles des Kindes wegen. We're doing everything on account of the child.  Während des Sommers wohnt er bei seinen Großeltern. During the summer he lives with his grandparents.  When just a masculine or neuter noun follows the preposition, there is no genitive "-s": Anstatt Fleisch isst sie Tofu. Instead of meat she eats tofu. Note also: Er entschuldigte sich immer wieder wegen seines schlechten Deutsch.  He apologized repeatedly on account of his bad German.  Trotz ihres guten Französisch konnte sie nichts verstehen.  In spite of her good French she couldn't understand a thing. Less frequently used are außerhalb [outside of], innerhalb [inside of], oberhalb [above], unterhalb [beneath], diesseits [on this side of], and jenseits [on the other side of]: Sie wohnen außerhalb der Stadt.  They live outside the city.  Nur ein Spieler darf innerhalb dieses Kreises stehen.  Only one player is allowed to stand inside this circle. Oberhalb dieser Linie gibt es ein paar Kratzer.  Above this line there are a couple of scratches. Die Leber sitzt unterhalb der Lunge. The liver is beneath the lung.  Diesseits der Grenze spricht man Deutsch, aber jenseits spricht man Holländisch.  On this side of the border German is spoken, but on the other side Dutch.      The grand race of the lowest prices.   George O. Curme's Grammar of the German Language (New York: Macmillan, 1922) lists a total of 123 prepositions that take the genitive (p. 357), but most are very rare or confined to legal language. They include anlässlich [on the occasion of], angesichts [in the face of; in view of], infolge [as a result of; owing to], ungeachtet [despite; notwithstanding], etc. Genitive prepositions do not form "da-" compounds. Instead we use genitive demonstrative pronouns, getting structures like während dessen [in the meantime], statt dessen [instead of that], and trotz dessen [despite that] - written as one or two words. There is a special form of wegen: Wir gehen seinetwegen zu Fuß.  We're going on foot on account of him (for his sake).  Ich mache es ihretwegen.  I'm doing it on account of her (for her sake). Kaufen Sie das nicht meinetwegen.  Don't buy that for my sake. Meinetwegen könnt ihr es verkaufen.  As far as I'm concerned (for all I care), you can sell it.  Quite a few verbs once took a genitive object, but over time they have switched to the accusative. One example is vergessen, although the name of the flower Vergissmeinnicht (forget-me-not) remains. Some verbs officially still take the genitive, although many native speakers will use the accusative instead. It is with such formal - some would say stilted - German that you might encounter genitive pronouns: Die Angst bemächtigte sich seiner.  Fear seized him.  Wir bedürfen Ihrer Hilfe.  We require your assistance. Man muss unter 16 sein, um sich eines VCRs zu bedienen.  You have to be under 16 to operate a VCR. Ich erfreue mich seiner Anwesenheit. I enjoy his presence.  Wir harren ihrer Ankunft. We patiently await her arrival.  Some predicate adjectives are also associated with the genitive: Er ist seiner Beliebtheit sehr gewiss.  He's very certain of his popularity. Ich bin mir dessen bewusst.  I'm aware of that. Ach ich bin des Treibens müde! [aus Goethes "Wandrers Nachtlied"]  Oh, I'm weary of this restless activity  Sie ist des Mordes schuldig. She is guilty of murder.  Er ist ihrer nicht wert.  He's not worthy of her.  Certain noun phrases in the genitive act like prepositional phrases: Wir sind heute guter Laune. We're in a good mood today  Sie geht guten Mutes nach Hause. She goes home in good spirits.  Er arbeitet festen Glaubens dafür.  He works for that with a firm faith. Meines Erachtens ist das nicht nötig. In my opinion that's not necessary.  Meines Wissens ist nichts übrig geblieben.   As far as I know, nothing was left over.  Sie behauptet das allen Ernstes. She claims that in all seriousness  Du bist heute guter Dinge. You're in a cheerful mood today.      Junk disposal of all kinds bulky refuse / plastic, synthetics and scrap metal /clearing out of cellars, attics, and apartments / demolition work / moving service, mini-transport / free inspection / short notice possible Painting jobs. Fast, clean, and reasonably priced.   1 The "ein-words" are ein, kein, and the possessive pronouns: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr, ihr The so-called "der-words" are the articles der, die, das; dies-, jed-, jen-, manch-, solch-, welch-. back to text 2 Increasingly, Germans are putting apostrophes onto all names, especially in commercial enterprises. This option is unavailable to non-native speakers.     Fränky's Flowers. back to text Return to grammar review.