Functions
Depending on the language, specific varieties of genitive-noun–main-noun relationships may include: * possession (''see'' possessive case, possessed case): ** inalienable possession ("''Janet's'' height", "''Janet's'' existence", "''Janet's'' long fingers") ** alienable possession ("''Janet's'' jacket", "''Janet's'' drink") ** relationship indicated by the noun being modified ("''Janet's'' husband") * composition (''see'' Partitive): ** substance ("a wheel ''of cheese''") ** elements ("a group ''of men''") ** source ("a portion ''of the food''") * participation in an action: ** as an agent ("She benefited from ''her father's'' love") – this is called the ''subjective genitive'' (Compare "Her father loved her", where ''Her father'' is the ''subject''.) ** as aEnglish
Finnic genitives and accusatives
Finnic languages ( Finnish, Estonian, etc.) have genitive cases. In Finnish, prototypically the genitive is marked with ''-n'', e.g. ''maa – maan'' "country – of the country". The stem may change, however, with consonant gradation and other reasons. For example, in certain words ending in consonants, ''-e-'' is added, e.g. ''mies – miehen'' "man – of the man", and in some, but not all words ending in ''-i'', the ''-i'' is changed to an ''-e-'', to give ''-en'', e.g. ''lumi – lumen'' "snow – of the snow". The genitive is used extensively, with animate and inanimate possessors. In addition to the genitive, there is also a partitive case (marked ''-ta/-tä'' or ''-a/-ä'') used for expressing that something is a part of a larger mass, e.g. ''joukko miehiä'' "a group of men". In Estonian, the genitive marker ''-n'' has elided with respect to Finnish. Thus, the genitive always ends with a vowel, and the singular genitive is sometimes (in a subset of words ending with a vocal in nominative) identical in form to nominative. However, there are multiple strategies to form genitives from nominative forms ending in consonants, including addition of an unpredictable vowel, syncope, or even disfixation. In Finnish, in addition to the uses mentioned above, there is a construct where the genitive is used to mark a surname. For example, ''Juhani Virtanen'' can be also expressed ''Virtasen Juhani'' ("Juhani of the Virtanens"). A complication in Finnic languages is that the accusative case ''-(e)n'' is homophonic to the genitive case. This case does not indicate possession, but is a syntactic marker for the object, additionally indicating that the action is telic (completed). In Estonian, it is often said that only a "genitive" exists. However, the cases have completely different functions, and the form of the accusative has developed from *''-(e)m''. (The same sound change has developed into a synchronic mutation of a final ''m'' into ''n'' in Finnish, e.g. genitive ''sydämen'' vs. nominative ''sydän''.) This homophony has exceptions in Finnish, where a separate accusative ''-(e)t'' is found in pronouns, e.g. ''kenet'' "who (telic object)", vs. ''kenen'' "whose". A difference is also observed in some of the related Sámi languages, where the pronouns and the plural of nouns in the genitive and accusative are easily distinguishable from each other, e.g., ''kuä'cǩǩmi'' "eagles' (genitive plural)" and ''kuä'cǩǩmid'' "eagles (accusative plural)" in Skolt Sami.German
Formation
Articles
The genitive singular definite article for masculine and neuter nouns is , while the feminine and plural definite article is . The indefinite articles are for masculine and neuter nouns, and for feminine and plural nouns (although the bare form cannot be used in the plural, it manifests in , , etc.)Nouns
Singular masculine and neuter nouns of the strong declension in the genitive case are marked with . Generally, one-syllable nouns favour the ending, and it is obligatory with nouns ending with a sibilant such as or . Otherwise, a simple ending is usual. Feminine and plural nouns remain uninflected: * (of the contribution) – masculine * (of the flower) – feminine * (of the country) – neuter * (of the trees) – plural Singular masculine nouns (and one neuter noun) of the weak declension are marked with an (or rarely ) ending in the genitive case: * (of the raven) – masculine * (of the heart) – neuterAdjectives
The declension of adjectives in the genitive case is as follows:Personal pronouns
The genitive personal pronouns are quite rare and either very formal, literary or outdated. They are as follows (with comparison to the nominative pronouns): Some examples: * (Would you go instead ''of me''?) * (We are not worthy ''of her/them'') * (I will commemorate ''you'')Relative pronouns
Unlike the personal ones, the genitive relative pronouns are in regular use and are as follows (with comparison to the nominative relative pronouns): Some examples: * (Do you know the student ''whose'' mother is a witch?) – masculine * (She is the woman ''whose'' husband is a racer) – feminineUsage
Nouns
The genitive case is often used to show possession or the relation between nouns: * (the colour ''of the'' ''sky'') * (Germany lies in the heart ''of Europe'') * (the death ''of his wife'') * (the development ''of these countries'') A simple is added to the end of a name: * (''Claudia's'' book)Prepositions
The genitive case is also commonly found after certain prepositions: * (within ''a day'') * (instead ''of the shirt'') * (during ''our absence'') * (beyond ''the mountains'')Adjectives
The genitive case can sometimes be found in connection with certain adjectives: * (We are aware ''of that'') * (He is guilty ''of theft'') * (The child is in need ''of calmness'') * (I am growing weary ''of this life'')Verbs
The genitive case is occasionally found in connection with certain verbs (some of which require an accusative before the genitive); they are mostly either formal or legal: * (The city enjoys ''a favourable climate'') * (Remember ''those who died'' in (the) war) * (Who accused him ''of murder''?) * (Someone suspects you ''of (committing) fraud'')Greek
The ablative case of Indo-European was absorbed into the genitive in Classical Greek. This added to the usages of the "genitive proper", the usages of the "ablatival genitive". The genitive occurs with verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions. See also Genitive absolute.Hungarian
The Hungarian genitive is constructed using the suffix ''-é''. *''madár'' ('bird'); ''madáré'' ('bird's') The genitive ''-é'' suffix is only used with the predicate of a sentence: it serves the role of mine, yours, hers, etc. The possessed object is left in the nominative case. For example: *''A csőr a madáré'' ('The beak is the bird's'). If the possessor is not the predicate of the sentence, the genitive is not used. Instead, the possessive suffixes (''-(j)e'' or ''-(j)a'' in the third person singular, depending on vowel harmony) mark the possessed object. The possessor is left in the nominative if it directly precedes the possessed object (otherwise it takes a dative ''-nak/-nek'' suffix). For example: *''csőr'' ('beak'); ''csőre'' ('its beak') *''a madár csőre''/''csőre a madárnak'' ('the bird's beak') In addition, the suffix ''-i'' ('of') is also used. For example: *''madár'' ('bird'); ''madári'' ('avian', 'of bird(s)')Japanese
Japanese construes the genitive by using the grammatical particle ''no'' の. It can be used to show a number of relationships to the head noun. For example: :猫の手 ''neko-no te'' ("cat's paw") :学生の一人 ''gakusei-no hitori'' ("one of the students") :金の指輪 ''kin-no yubiwa'' ("a ring of gold") :京都のどこ ''Kyouto-no doko'' ("where of (in) Kyoto") :富士の山 ''Fuji-no yama'' ("the mountain of Fuji" t. Fuji The archaic genitive case particle ''-ga'' ~が is still retained in certain expressions, place names, and dialects. Possessive ''ga'' can also be written as a small ke (), for example in . Typically, languages have nominative case nouns converting into genitive case. It has been found, however, that the Kansai dialect of Japanese will in rare cases allow accusative case to convert to genitive, if specific conditions are met in the clause in which the conversion appears. This is referred to as "Accusative-Genitive conversion."Latin
The genitive is one of the cases of nouns and pronouns inIrish
The Irish language also uses a genitive case (''tuiseal ginideach''). For example, in the phrase ''bean an tí'' (woman of the house), ''tí'' is the genitive case of ''teach'', meaning "house". Another example is ''barr an chnoic'', "top of the hill", where ''cnoc'' means "hill", but is changed to ''chnoic'', which also incorporates lenition.Mandarin
In Mandarin Chinese, the genitive case is made by use of the particle 的 (de). ] , wǒ de māo , my cat However, about persons in relation to oneself, 的 is often dropped when the context allows for it to be easily understood. ] , wǒ de māmā wǒ māmā , both mean "my mother"Persian
Old Persian had a true genitive case inherited from Proto-Indo-European. By the time of Middle Persian, the genitive case had been lost and replaced by an analytical construction which is now called Ezāfe. This construction was inherited by New Persian, and was also later borrowed into numerous other Iranic, Turkic and Indo-Aryan languages of Western and South Asia.Semitic languages
Genitive case marking existed in Proto-Semitic, Akkadian, and Ugaritic. It indicated possession, and it is preserved today only inAkkadian
:Nominative: ''šarrum'' (king) :Genitive: ''aššat šarrim'' (wife of king = king's wife)Arabic
Called المجرور ''al-majrūr'' (meaning "dragged") or المخفوض ''al-makhfūḍ'' (meaning "lowered") inSlavic languages
With the exception of Bulgarian and Macedonian, all Slavic languages decline the nouns and adjectives in accordance with the genitive case using a variety of endings depending on the word's lexical category, its gender, number (singular or plural) and in some cases meaning. For instance, in Russian Broutona (lit. Broughton's) island name, its genitive/possessive case is created by adding ''a'' affix to the explorer's name.Possessives
To indicate possession the ending of the noun indicating the possessor changes depending on the word's ending in theTo express negation
The genitive case is also used in sentences expressing negation, even when no possessive relationship is involved. The ending of the subject noun changes just as it does in possessive sentences. The genitive, in this sense, can only be used to negate nominative, accusative and genitive sentences, and not other cases. :Nominative: (pol.) "(Czy) Maria jest w domu?" / (rus.) "Мария дома?" / (Чи) Марія (є) вдома? ("Is Maria at home?"). :Genitive: (pol.) "Marii nie ma w domu" ("Maria is not at home", literally: " irtual subjecthas no Maria at home") :Genitive: (rus.) "Марии нет дома" ("Maria is not at home", literally: "Of Maria there is none at home."). :Genitive: (ukr.) "Марії нема(є) вдома" ("Maria is not at home", literally: " irtual subjecthas no Maria at home.") :Accusative: (pol.) "Mogę rozczytać twoje pismo" / (rus.) Могу (про)читать твой почерк / (ukr.) Можу (про)читати твій почерк ("I can read your handwriting") :Genitive: (pol.) "Nie mogę rozczytać twojego pisma" / (rus.) "Не могу (про)читать твоего почерка" / (ukr.) "Не можу (про)читати твого почерку" ("I can't read your handwriting") Use of genitive for negation is obligatory in Slovene, Polish andPartial direct object
The genitive case is used with some verbs and mass nouns to indicate that the action covers only a part of the direct object (having a function of non-existing partitive case), whereas similar constructions using the Accusative case denote full coverage. Compare the sentences: :Genitive: (pol.) "Napiłem się wody" / (rus.) "Я напился воды" / (ukr.) "Я напився води" ("I drank water," i.e. "I drank some water, part of the water available") :Accusative: (pol.) "Wypiłem wodę" / (rus.) "Я выпил воду / (ukr.) "Я випив воду ("I drank the water," i.e. "I drank all the water, all the water in question") In Russian, special partitive case or sub-case is observed for some uncountable nouns which in some contexts have preferred alternative form on -у/ю instead of standard genitive on -а/я: выпил чаю ('drank some tea'), but сорта чая ('sorts of tea').Prepositional constructions
The genitive case is also used in many prepositional constructions. (Usually when some movement or change of state is involved, and when describing the source / destination of the movement. Sometimes also when describing the manner of acting.) *Czech prepositions using genitive case: od (from), z, ze (from), do (into), bez (without), kromě (excepting), místo (instead of), podle (after, according to), podél (along), okolo (around), u (near, by), vedle (beside), během (during), pomocí (using, by the help of), stran (as regards) etc. *Polish prepositions using genitive case: od (from), z, ze (from), do, w (into), na (onto), bez (without), zamiast (instead of), wedle (after, according to), wzdłuż (along), około (around), u (near, by), koło (beside), podczas (during), etc. *Russian prepositions using genitive case: от (from), с, со (from), до (before, up to), без (without), кроме (excepting), вместо (instead of), после (after), вдоль (along), около (around), у (near, by), во время (during), насчёт (regarding), etc.Turkish
The Turkish genitive, formed with a genitive suffix for the possessor, is used in combination with a possessive for the possessed entity, formed with a possessive suffix. For example, in "my mother's mother", the possessor is "my mother", and the possessed entity is " ermother". In Turkish: :Nominative: ''anne'' ("mother"); :First-person possessive: ''annem'' ("my mother"); :Third-person possessive: ''annesi'' (" omeones mother"); :Genitive of ''annem'': ''annemin'' ("my mother's"); :Genitive and possessive combined: ''annemin annesi'' ("my mother's mother", i.e., "my maternal grandmother").Albanian
The genitive in Albanian is formed with the help of clitics. For example: :Nominative: ''libër'' ('book'); ''vajzë'' ('girl'); :Genitive: ''libri i vajzës'' (the girl's book) If the possessed object is masculine, the clitic is ''i''. If the possessed object is feminine, the clitic is ''e''. If the possessed object is plural, the clitic is ''e'' regardless of the gender. The genitive is used with some prepositions: ''me anë'' ('by means of'), ''nga ana'' ('on behalf of', 'from the side of'), ''për arsye'' ('due to'), ''për shkak'' ('because of'), ''me përjashtim'' ('with the exception of'), ''në vend'' ('instead of').Armenian
The genitive in Armenian is generally formed by adding "-ի": Nominative: աղջիկ ('girl'); գիրք ('book'); Genitive: աղջիկի գիրքը ("the girl's book"). However, there are certain words that are not formed this way. For example, words with ուն change to ան: Nominative: տուն ('house'), Genitive: տան ("house's").Dravidian languages
Kannada
In Kannada, the genitive case-endings are: for masculine or feminine nouns ending in "ಅ" (a): ನ (na) * Examples: ''sūrya-na'' ('of the sun') for neuter nouns ending in "ಅ" (a): ದ (da) * Examples: ''mara-da'' ('of the tree') for all nouns ending in "ಇ" (i), "ಈ" (ī), "ಎ" (e), or "ಏ" (ē): ಅ (a) * Examples: ''mane-y-a'' ('of the house'; a linking "y" is added between the stem and the suffix) for all nouns ending in "ಉ" (u), "ಊ" (ū), "ಋ" (r̥), or "ೠ" (r̥̄): ಇನ (ina) * Examples; ''guru-v-ina'' ('of the teacher'; a linking "v" is added between the stem and the suffix) Most postpositions in Kannada take the genitive case.Tamil
In Tamil, the genitive case ending is the word உடைய or இன், which signifies possession. Depending on the last letter of the noun, the genitive case endings may vary. If the last letter is a consonant (மெய் எழுத்து), like க், ங், ச், ஞ், ட், ண், த், ந், ப், ம், ய், ர், ல், வ், ழ், then the suffix உடைய/இன் gets added. *Examples: His: அவன் + உடைய = அவனுடைய, Doctor's: மருத்துவர் + உடைய = மருத்துவருடைய, மருத்துவர் + இன் = மருத்துவரின் Kumar's: குமார் + உடைய = குமாருடைய, குமார்+ இன் = குமாரின்See also
* Genitive construction * Possessive caseReferences
Further reading
* *External links