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### Adjectives in the Genitive case

When discussing politics, laws, and civic duties, you will frequently use the Genitive case to express possession or relationships, such as "the power *of the* government" or "the election *of the* parliament".

Declining adjectives after definite articles in the Genitive case follows one simple rule: **the adjective always ends in "-en"**.

It does not matter if the noun is masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural. As long as it follows a Genitive definite article (*des* or *der*), you just add **-en** to the adjective.

Let's look at a neuter noun. The definite article *das* becomes **des**, the noun gets an **-s** or **-es** ending, and the adjective takes **-en**.

{{item:874511}}

For feminine nouns, the article *die* becomes **der**. The noun itself does not change, and the adjective takes **-en**.

{{item:874514}}

Masculine nouns behave just like neuter nouns. The article *der* changes to **des**, the noun typically gets an **-s** or **-es** ending, and the adjective takes **-en**.

{{item:874527}}

Finally, for plural nouns, the article *die* becomes **der**. Once again, the adjective simply takes **-en**.

{{item:874528}}

### Genitive declension at a glance

Here is a quick summary of how the definite articles, adjectives, and nouns change in the Genitive case:

| Gender | Definite Article | Adjective Ending | Noun Ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Masculine** | des | -en | -(e)s / -en |
| **Feminine** | der | -en | - |
| **Neuter** | des | -en | -(e)s |
| **Plural** | der | -en | - |

Notice how the adjective ending is consistently **-en** across the board. You can see this uniformity in action when contrasting multiple genders in the same sentence:

{{item:874526}}

Genitive adjective declension (definite articles)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the election	die Wahl
the parliament	das Parlament
The election of the new parliament is tomorrow.	Die Wahl des neuen Parlaments ist morgen.
the power	die Macht
the government	die Regierung
The power of the new government is greater.	Die Macht der neuen Regierung ist größer.
the minister	der Minister
The minister of the old government became angry.	Der Minister der alten Regierung wurde wütend.
the majority	die Mehrheit
the party (political)	die Partei
I believe that the majority of the new party is strong.	Ich glaube, dass die Mehrheit der neuen Partei stark ist.
the state (political)	der Staat
the citizen	der Bürger
The problems of the modern state bother every citizen.	Die Probleme des modernen Staates stören jeden Bürger.
the society	die Gesellschaft
The future of free society is important.	Die Zukunft der freien Gesellschaft ist wichtig.
The gentleman doesn't like the election of the new president.	Die Wahl des neuen Präsidenten gefällt dem Herrn nicht.
It is not the decision of the old party, but rather of the new parliament.	Es ist nicht die Entscheidung der alten Partei, sondern des neuen Parlaments.
The power of the strong state protects society.	Die Macht des starken Staates schützt die Gesellschaft.
The minister knew that the majority of the poor citizens became angry.	Der Minister wusste, dass die Mehrheit der armen Bürger wütend wurde.