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### Verbs that Require the Genitive

In German, a select group of highly formal verbs strictly demands an object in the Genitive case. You will frequently encounter these in legal contexts, official public relations statements, and news reports about scandals.

### Accusing and Suspecting

Verbs dealing with crimes or accusations often take two objects: a direct object in the Accusative (the person being targeted) and a secondary object in the Genitive (the crime or action they are suspected of).

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### Reflexive Verbs with the Genitive

Some reflexive verbs also strictly govern the Genitive case. Here, the reflexive pronoun (*sich*, *mich*, *dich*, etc.) takes the Accusative slot, leaving the Genitive case for the thing being boasted about or abstained from.

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### Direct Genitive Objects

A few non-reflexive verbs take a Genitive object directly, without needing an Accusative person first. A prime example is **bedürfen** (to require), which is a highly formal equivalent of *brauchen*.

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### Adding Negative Emphasis

When forcefully denying these serious allegations or downplaying a need, you can add emphasis using **gar nicht** or **überhaupt nicht** (not at all).

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Genitive verbs (sich rühmen, bedürfen)

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
to accuse	beschuldigen
the fraud	der Betrug
The journalist accuses the minister of fraud.	Der Journalist beschuldigt den Minister des Betrugs.
the corruption	die Korruption
Moreover, they accuse the company of corruption.	Zudem beschuldigen sie das Unternehmen der Korruption.
to suspect (someone of wrongdoing)	verdächtigen
the accusation	der Vorwurf
We suspect the boss of the deed, which is why the accusation is serious.	Wir verdächtigen den Chef der Tat, weswegen der Vorwurf ernst ist.
the bribery	die Bestechung
Nobody suspects the team of bribery.	Niemand verdächtigt die Mannschaft der Bestechung.
to boast of	sich rühmen
He boasts of the fraud, which is why he is in danger.	Er rühmt sich des Betrugs, weshalb er in Gefahr ist.
The boss by no means boasts of the bribery.	Der Chef rühmt sich keineswegs der Bestechung.
to require	bedürfen
the statement	die Stellungnahme
Furthermore, the scandal requires a statement.	Darüber hinaus bedarf der Skandal einer Stellungnahme.
This accusation requires proof.	Dieser Vorwurf bedarf eines Beweises.
to abstain from	sich enthalten
The suspect refrains from a comment.	Der Verdächtige enthält sich eines Kommentars.
We refrain from a statement; moreover, we remain silent.	Wir enthalten uns einer Stellungnahme, außerdem schweigen wir.
The company does not require the help at all.	Das Unternehmen bedarf der Hilfe überhaupt nicht.
I do not accuse you of corruption at all.	Ich beschuldige dich gar nicht der Korruption.