In German, we use genitive prepositions to introduce a noun in the genitive case. Like other prepositions, genitive prepositions indicate how the noun they introduce is related to the rest of a sentence: does it describe the time an action happened, where it happened, who owned it, etc.
In this post we’ll introduce you to these prepositions and give you some tips on how to use them correctly.
I was surprised when I recently read that these form the largest set of prepositions in German — but that they are also the least well known. Why is that? Well, that’s because they are used mostly in official writing (think legal texts), while in everyday speech they are replaced by less stilted alternatives. So, if you ever need to read some German documents, this post may prove to be the guideline you need!
What are the most common Genitive prepositions in German?
Though you’ll mostly see German genitive prepositions in written language, there are a handful of them that occur fairly commonly in everyday and spoken German as well. These include:
| Genitive Preposition | English |
|---|---|
(an)statt | instead of |
anstelle / an Stelle | instead of |
trotz | despite |
während | during |
wegen | due to, because of |
Let’s have a closer look at each of these prepositions!
‘(an)statt’ and ‘anstelle’
Both anstatt and anstelle mean “instead of” but anstatt is a little more common:
A couple more little notes:
You can freely drop the an- from anstatt with no difference in meaning: anstatt = statt.
The preposition anstelle can also be spelled an Stelle.
‘trotz’
The preposition trotz means “despite.”
Regionally, trotz can also be used with the dative case, this is regionally limited to Southern German. As you’ll see below, the dative case can often “sub in” for the genitive in colloquial speech!
‘während’
The genitive preposition während means “during.”
In casual speech, während can be used with the dative as well.
‘wegen’
The genitive preposition wegen can mean “because of” or “due to,” and introduces the cause of some situation:
In casual speech, wegen can also be used before the dative.
Genitive prepositions that are common in written German
There is a larger number of genitive prepositions that you’ll find in the sort of formal written German you’re likely to encounter in everyday life: at work, in nonfiction, in formal announcements, or in more official documents.
Here’s a sample of some of the most important ones:
| Genitive Preposition | English |
|---|---|
aufgrund / an Grund | because of, due to |
bezüglich | in regard to, concerning |
hinsichtlich | in regard to, concerning |
in puncto | in regard to, concerning, as for |
zugunsten / zu Gunsten | in favor of |
zuungunsten / zu Ungunsten | to the disadvantage of |
Let’s take a look at these friendly (but a little bureaucratic) prepositions!
‘aufgrund’
The preposition aufgrund means “because of” or “due to.”
A couple notes:
The preposition aufgrund can also be spelled an Grund.
Aufgrund and wegen have the same meaning, but aufgrund is more formal: expect to see aufgrund mostly in the written language (or very formal speech).
‘bezüglich,’ ‘hinsichtlich,’ and ‘in puncto’
The propositions bezüglich and hinsichtlich are synonyms, meaning “in regards to” or “concerning,” and they are mostly used in written German. These are especially common in workplace communication:
The preposition in puncto would also be translated the same way, as “in regards to” or “concerning,” but is used only to introduce a characteristic, in a context where you’re commenting on how an individual or institution performs “in regard” to that characteristic. You can think of this as a little more like “as for…” in English.
‘zugunsten’ and ‘zuungunsten’
The genitive preposition zugunsten means “in favor of,” while zuungunsten is its opposite, meaning “to the disadvantage of.”
Both of these prepositions can be spelled as two words:
- zugunsten = zu Gunsten
- zuungunsten = zu Ungunsten
And both of these prepositions may also be used as postpositions, but in this case they are used with the dative case instead.
Which location prepositions take the genitive case?
The last group of genitive prepositions we’ll discuss today are those that are used to describe locations more closely. We might use these to express a location in relation to a cardinal direction (e.g. “north of”) or in relation to some physical object (e.g. “to the left of”). There are four general groups of these.
Prepositions ending in ‘-halb’
These reference the location of something in relation to a three-dimensional object.
Genitive Preposition English außerhalboutside of
innerhalbinside of
oberhalbabove
unterhalbbelow, beneath
prepositiongenitiveInnerhalb der Höhle war es relativ warm, aber außerhalb der Höhle fiel Schnee.Translation: Inside of the cave it was relatively warm, but outside of the cave, snow was falling.Die Höhle lag Innerhalb der Baumgrenze, aber außerhalb des Berggipfels.Translation: The cave was located above the treeline, but below the mountaintop.Prepositions ending in ‘-lich’’
These prepositions are mostly based on the words for cardinal directions.
Genitive Preposition English nördlichto the north of
südlichto the south of
westlichto the west of
östlichto the east of
prepositiongenitiveWas ist nördlich der Post, südlich des Parks, westlich des Bahnhofs und östlich der Burg?Translation: What’s to the north of the post office, to the south of the park, to the west of the train station and to the east of the castle?Prepositions ending in ‘-seits’
These tell you where something is in relation to the “side” of an object or building.
Genitive Preposition English abseitsat a distance from, away from, far from
beiderseitsto both sides of
diesseitson this side of
längsseitsalongside of
jenseitsbeyond
prepositiongenitiveDer Bauernhof lag weit abseits des Dorfes.Translation: The farm is located far from the village.Beiderseits des Gartens gab es Wald und ein Bach floss längs(seits) des kleinen Waldpfades.Translation: To both sides of the garden, there was forest and a creek ran alongside the small forest path.Jenseits des Waldes the forest, there was the village, but diesseits des Waldes the forest was only the farm.Translation: Beyond the garden, there was forest and a creek ran on this side of the small forest path.Other locative genitive prepositions
These genitive prepositions of location don’t have any special endings, they just take the genitive case.
inmitten meaning in the middle of
prepositiongenitiveInmitten der weißen Blumen stand eine einzige rote Blume.Translation: In the middle of the white flowers was a single red flower.unweit meaning not far from
prepositiongenitiveUnweit der Schule war ein Spielzeugladen.Translation: Not far from the school was a toy store.fern meaning far from
prepositiongenitiveDer Einsiedler lebte fern aller menschlichen Behausungen.Translation: The hermit lived far away from all human habitations.
Why are some genitive prepositions sometimes used with the dative?
In German, a number of prepositions can be used with either the genitive or the dative case. In general, the genitive case tends to be more formal, while the dative is more likely to be heard in regional or colloquial speech, though in some cases both are equally acceptable.
Why? Like all languages, the German language is always changing. One change that has even received some in recent years is that the genitive case is gradually replacing the dative case. Genitive prepositions are no exception to this trend!
Here are a few examples of German genitive prepositions that are quite often used with the dative case in the modern language. Check out our table of German genitive prepositions for a more complete list.
dank meaning thanks to
prepositiongenitivedativeDank seines Einsatzes / seinem Einsatz war das Projekt zum Abgabetermin beendet.Translation: Thanks to his many overtime hours, the project was finished at the due date.einschließlich meaning including and inclusive meaning inclusive of
prepositiongenitivedativeDie Übernachtung ist einschließlich / inklusive des Frühstücks / dem Frühstück.Translation: The overnight stay includes breakfast.Literally: The overnight stay is inclusive of breakfast.exklusive meaning excluding
prepositiongenitivedativeDer Preis ist exklusive des Einbaus / dem Einbau.Translation: The price does not include the installation.Literally: The price excludes the installation.laut meaning according to
prepositiongenitivedativeLaut ihrer Bewerbung / ihrer Bewerbung hat sie 2020 bei der Deutschen Bank gearbeitet.Translation: According to her application, she worked at Deutsche Bank in 2020.
When can you use ‘von’ with a genitive preposition?
One way Germans manage to use the dative case after genitive prepositions is to follow the formula below.
genitive preposition
dative case
You can add von after the following prepositions, however, doing so is fairly colloquial in style:
anstelle / an Stelle meaning instead of
aufgrund / auf Grund meaning because of, due to
zugunsten / zu Gunsten meaning in favor of
zuungunsten / zu Ungunsten meaning to the detriment of
all the locative genitive prepositions
Summary
In this post, we checked out a big set of German prepositions: genitive prepositions. Here’s what you should make sure to remember:
There are a lot of genitive prepositions in German, but they are most common in the written language, especially official documents.
The genitive prepositions (an)statt, trotz, während, and wegen are relatively common in spoken German as well.
Some genitive prepositions can also be used with the dative case, especially in colloquial contexts.
The locative genitive prepositions as well as anstelle, aufgrund, and zugunsten can be followed by von + dative case, in everyday speech.
Ready for more? Get studying with this complete table of German genitive prepositions! Or, if you’d rather put your skills to the test, check out our German genitive preposition exercises! Happy learning!
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