Questions & Answers about Wer ist der Besitzer des Autos?
Why is it des Autos and why is there an -s at the end of Auto?
This is the genitive case, which is used to show possession (meaning "of the car"). Because Auto is a neuter noun (das Auto), the word for "the" changes to des. In the genitive case, masculine and neuter nouns also get an extra -s or -es added to the end of the word itself, making it Autos.
Could I say von dem Auto instead to mean "of the car"?
Yes, you can! In everyday spoken German, people frequently use von plus the dative case (von dem Auto) to show possession. However, learning the genitive case (des Autos) is important because it is the standard way to show possession in written German and sounds more formal.
Why does des Autos come after der Besitzer?
In German, a noun in the genitive case almost always comes directly after the noun it belongs to. While in English you can say "the car's owner" or "the owner of the car", German strictly uses the second structure: der Besitzer (the owner) followed by des Autos (of the car).
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