genitive

Everyday

1. (grammar) The form of a noun or pronoun that shows who owns something or what it belongs to: in English, «the dog's bone», «Sam's coat», «the roof of the house». tree →
2. In languages like Latin, German or Ukrainian, a special case ending used for owning and for «of». tree →

In the lessons

In grammar lessons English pupils usually call it «possessive» or the possessive apostrophe; «genitive» is the older grammar word used in foreign-language lessons and language olympiads. Knowing the genitive helps with Latin, German, Ukrainian and Russian, where the ending of the word changes. Phrases: the genitive case, genitive plural, genitive ending.

Examples

• In «the cat's tail», «cat's» is in the genitive. tree →
• Latin uses a genitive ending: «Marci» means «of Marcus». tree →
• The genitive plural of «children» is «children's». tree →
• In German, «des Mannes» is genitive: «of the man». tree →
• The olympiad puzzle asked us to find the genitive ending. tree →
• «Whose» is the genitive form of «who». tree →

Note

In English the genitive is shown by 's (singular: the girl's) or s' (plural ending in s: the girls'), or by «of». Possessive pronouns (my, your, his, its) have no apostrophe: «its» (belonging to it) is not «it's» (it is). Stress: GEN-i-tiv.