eines guten Film: German Genitive Adjective Endings

In this post we’ll look at German genitive adjective endings. These are the endings that you’ll use on adjectives in the genitive case. First, we’ll define what all of that means, so that you understand exactly what a case is, when the genitive case is used, and why German adjectives have endings in the first place.  Next, we’ll look at the German genitive adjective endings systematically, by breaking them down into three categories. We’ll give plenty of examples and clear explanations. Finally, we’ll wrap everything up with practice exercises so that you can test yourself.

In this post, we’re going to be looking at the genitive case. That is the case that nouns take when they are in possessive constructions, or when they follow prepositions that take the genitive. There are also a few verbs that typically take the genitive, for example Here are examples:

• Das ist das Auto eines guten Freundes.
  This is the car of a good friend.  
  Eines guten Freundes is a possessive construction in the genitive.
• Wir sind trotz des schlechten Wetters in den Park gegangen.
  We went to the park despite the bad weather.
  Des schlechten Wetters is the object of the preposition trotz; it is in the genitive.

German Adjective Agreement

In German, like in many languages, adjectives “agree” with the noun that they modify. That means taking certain endings. This only happens in German when the noun is right before the noun, not when it’s separated by a verb like sein:

• Der Film ist sehr gut.
  The film is very good.
  Gut is not right before the noun it’s describing, so it doesn’t have any ending.
• Wir sehen einen sehr guten Film.
  We’re seeing a very good film.
  Gut is right before the direct object noun that it’s describing, so it takes the accusative ending –en.

Adjective agreement means that the adjective will take endings to agree with the noun it’s describing. If a noun is masculine and singular, like der Film, the adjective will take masculine singular endings.

Agreement for Case and Position

But German makes things a bit more complicated, because the adjective also has to agree in case (nominative, accusative, dative, or genitive). And German makes things even more complicated because there are different types of endings depending on what word comes right before the adjective!

If you’re familiar with adjective endings in the nominative, accusative, or dative, you know that there are three different environments that are relevant to adjective endings. They are:

• after der-words (which are des, der, des, and der in the genitive, along with dieses/dieser and welches/welcher);
• after ein-words (eines, einer, eines in the genitive, along with meines/meiner, deines/deiner, keines/keiner…),
• and in bare contexts (after nothing at all.

 The great news about the genitive is that the adjective ending is almost always –en!

Summary of German Genitive Adjective Endings

Now let’s look at the genitive endings themselves. As you can see below, the ending is always –en after der and ein words. In bare contexts (after a preposition without an article for example), the ending is –en in the masculine and neuter, but –er in the feminine and plural.

Accusative	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
after der-words	-en	-en	-en	-en
after ein-words	-en	-en	-en	-en
bare forms	-en	-er	-en	-er

Next we’ll look at a few examples of adjectives in the genitive in each of these environments.

After der-Words

First, we’ll look at der-words. After der-words, there’s just one genitive ending: –en.

• Die Farbe des alten Autos gefällt mir sehr.
  The color of the old car really appeals to me.
• Während des schlechten Wetters blieben wir zu Hause.
  During the bad weather, we stayed at home.
• Die Tür der neuen Wohnung ist noch nicht gestrichen.
  The door of the new apartment hasn’t been painted yet.
• Der Klang der schönen Musik erfüllte den Raum.
  The sound of the beautiful music filled the room.

After ein-Words

Now let’s look at ein-words. Adjectives after ein-words take the same –en ending in the genitive.

• Die Seiten eines interessanten Buches waren eingerissen.
  The pages of an interesting book were torn.
• Wir gedenken eines mutigen Soldaten.
  We commemorate a brave soldier.
• Die Fenster einer alten Villa sind oft sehr groß.
  The windows of an old villa are often very large.
• Die Kleidung eines kleinen Kindes kann schnell schmutzig werden.
  The clothing of a small child can quickly get dirty.

Bare Forms

Next let’s look at the bare forms. This is the only context where genitive adjectives take –er instead of –en, and only in the feminine and plural.

• Trotz guten Wetters fand das Konzert draußen statt.
  Despite good weather, the concert took place outside.
• Wegen alter Freunde besuchte er seine Heimatstadt.
  Because of old friends, he visited his hometown.
• Anstelle lauter Musik spielte die Band etwas Ruhiges.
  Instead of loud music, the band played something quiet.
• Trotz neuen Designs blieb das Handy unbeliebt.
  Despite the new design, the phone remained unpopular.

Genitive Prepositions

Remember that all German prepositions take objects in either the accusative, genitive, or dative case. Some prepositions that take the genitive are:

• während (during)
• trotz (despite)
• wegen (because of)
• innerhalb (within)
• außerhalb (outside of)
• anstatt / statt (instead of)
• aufgrund (due to)
• diesseits / jenseits (this side of / beyond)

For example:

• Während des langen Unterrichts schlief er.He slept during the long lessons.
• Anstatt alter Gewohnheiten braucht es neue.Instead of old habits, new ones are needed.

Verbs that Take the Genitive

You’ll come across a few verbs that take genitive objects, although these tend to be a bit more formal or written. A few examples are: gedenken (to commemorate), sich bedienen (to make use of), sich enthalten (to refrain from), sich rühmen (to boast of), sich annehmen (to take on), and bedürfen (to require, be in need of).

• Wir gedenken der unglücklichen Opfer.
  We commemorate the unfortunate victims.
• Er bediente sich eines neuen Tricks.
  He made use of a new trick.
• Sie enthielt sich jeder unnötigen Kritik.
  She refrained from any unnecessary criticism.
• Er rühmt sich großer Erfolge.
  He boasts of great successes.
• Sie nimmt sich der schwierigen Sache an.
  She is taking care of the difficult matter.
• Das Projekt bedarf großer Sorgfalt.
  The project requires great care.

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