Skip to content

CEFR B2

Genitive: Formation, Possession, and Relations

Form genitive endings with nouns, names, adjectives, and nominalised forms; use von alternatives and dessen/deren in relative clauses.

Last updated: July 11, 2026

Explanation

Rule-to-example map

RuleGerman example
masculine/neuter -sdas Auto des Lehrers / des Kindes
monosyllabic often -esdie Stimme des Mannes
sibilant requires -esdie Mitte des Platzes
feminine/plural article endingdas Büro der Kollegin / der Eltern
n-declensiondas Auto des Nachbarn
preposed name + sAnnas Fahrrad
name ending s/x + apostropheHans’ Büro / Beatrix’ Auto
geographical genitiveDeutschlands Süden / der Süden Deutschlands
von alternative without determinerder Einsatz von Robotern
nominalised adjectivedie Hilfe des Kranken
relative pronoun dessen/derenDer Mann, dessen Auto fehlt. / Die Frau, deren Sohn studiert.

Exercises

Start practice
  1. Sort all expressions by the appropriate rule.

    10 tasks

    Start practice
  2. Rewrite the expression using the required genitive structure.

    10 tasks

    Start practice