Learn German Online for free - The Possessive Object

Learn German Online for free and learn some grammar now. I know it is not easy but we try.

The dog belongs to the man. The possessing of something is described using the Genitive. Don't worry! I will make it easy for you and bring it to the point.

Examples:
der Hund des Mannes = the dog of the man / der Mann (masculine)
das Buch der Frau = the book of the woman / die Frau (feminine)

Always ask: Whose? or Of which?
Whose book is it? ....the book of the woman
Whose dog is it? .....the dog of the man

Just memorize this!
Use ONE - Options just TWO

You see, you use only one word in German to express the possessing of an object but in English you use two words. (of the)
You just have two options: der or des and nothing else.

Memorize it like this!
If the subject is Feminine or Plural you use DER
and if it is anything else (masculine or neuter) you use DES

DER

Examples for PLURAL:
Die Autos der Männer. The cars of the men. / Männer is Plural, so you use DER
(der Mann, die Männer)
Die Hunde der Frauen. The dogs of the women. (Frauen - Plural: DER)
Die Bücher der Studenten. The books of the students. (Studenten - Plural: DER)
Die Eltern der Kinder. The parents of the children. (Kinder - Plural: DER)
Die Angestellten der Flughäfen. The employees of the airports. (die Flughäfen - Plural: DER)

Examples for FEMININE:
Das Kleid der Frau. The dress of the woman. (die Frau - Feminine: DER)
Das Spiel der Mutter. The game of the mother. (die Mutter - Feminine: DER)
Das Futter der Katze. The food of the cat. (die Katze - Feminine: DER)

DES

in all other cases that are NOT Plural and NOT Feminine (masculine or neuter and singular)

Das Haus des Mannes. The house of the man. (der Mann - singular, masculine: DES Der Garten des Nachbarn. The garden of the neighbour. (der Nachbar - sing, masc. DES)
Das Geld des Soldaten. The money of the soldier. (der Soldat - sing., masc.)
Die Blumen des Kindes. The flours of the kid. (das Kind - sing., neuter)
Die Hitze des Sommers. The heat of the summer. (der Sommer - sing., masc.)

I know the problem is to get the ending right, like Mannes or Nachbarn or Soldaten.
This is a problem for you but this comes with practice. Go to Germany for a year and you will pick it up.

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