Breakdown of Trotz des Regens bleibt das Lächeln der Kinder breit.
das Kind
the child
bleiben
to remain
der Regen
the rain
trotz
despite
Questions & Answers about Trotz des Regens bleibt das Lächeln der Kinder breit.
Why does trotz take the genitive here and not the accusative?
Trotz is one of the few German prepositions that traditionally requires the genitive case to express concession (“in spite of”). Therefore you say trotz des Regens (genitive singular of der Regen) rather than trotz den Regen (which would be accusative and is non-standard). Colloquially you might hear trotz dem Regen, but in formal written German trotz + genitive is correct.
Why is it des Regens and der Kinder? How do I know these genitive endings?
German genitive endings vary by gender and number:
- Masculine and neuter singular nouns normally add -s or -es:
• der Regen → des Regens - Plural nouns keep the noun form but use the article der for genitive plural:
• die Kinder → der Kinder
So in our sentence:
• des Regens = gen. masc. singular
• der Kinder = gen. plural
Why is the verb bleibt placed right after Trotz des Regens and before the subject?
In a German main clause the finite verb must occupy the second position (V2 word order). When you put the prepositional phrase Trotz des Regens in the first position, the verb bleibt must follow immediately, then the subject das Lächeln der Kinder comes next.