The genitive case with definite articles (des, der)

The genitive case for possession

To show possession or a direct relationship between two nouns, German uses the genitive case. It translates nicely to using an apostrophe-s ("the judge's verdict") or the word "of" ("the verdict of the judge") in English.

Legal matters and property rights provide great examples of the genitive in action, as we frequently talk about the owner of a car or the verdict of a court.

Masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive

For masculine and neuter nouns, the definite article changes to des.

Unlike other cases you have learned so far, the genitive case often changes the noun itself! When a masculine or neuter noun is in the genitive case, you must add an -s to the end of the noun.

Notice the article des and the -s ending on the masculine noun Richter and the neuter noun Gericht:

The -es noun ending

If a masculine or neuter noun has only one syllable (like Kind or Dieb), or if it ends in an s-sound (like Prozess), adding a simple -s makes it too hard to pronounce.

In these cases, you add -es to the end of the noun instead:

Feminine and plural nouns in the genitive

Feminine nouns (and plural nouns) are simpler. To make them genitive, the definite article simply changes to der.

Importantly, feminine and plural nouns do not get an extra -s or -es ending on the noun itself. Only masculine and neuter nouns change their endings.