Genitive case

"Genitive" redirects here. For broader category, seeGenitive construction.

CuneiforminscriptionLugal Kiengi Kiuri𒈗𒆠𒂗𒄀𒆠𒌵,"King of Sumer and Akkad",on a seal ofSumeriankingShulgi(r.c. 2094–2047 BCE). The finalke₄𒆤is the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e (ergative case).

Ingrammar,thegenitive case(abbreviatedgen)is thegrammatical casethat marks a word, usually anoun,as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating anattributiverelationship of one noun to the other noun.A genitive can also serve purposes indicating other relationships. For example, someverbsmay featureargumentsin the genitive case; and the genitive case may also haveadverbialuses (seeadverbial genitive).

Thegenitive constructionincludes the genitive case, but is a broader category. Placing a modifying noun in the genitive case is one way of indicating that it is related to ahead noun,in a genitive construction. However, there are other ways to indicate a genitive construction. For example, manyAfroasiatic languagesplace the head noun (rather than the modifying noun) in theconstruct state.

Possessivegrammatical constructions, including the possessive case, may be regarded as subsets of the genitive construction. For example, the genitive construction "pack of dogs” is similar, but not identical in meaning to the possessive case "dogs' pack" (and neither of these is entirely interchangeable with "dog pack", which is neither genitive nor possessive).Modern Englishis an example of a language that has a possessive case rather than aconventionalgenitive case. That is, Modern English indicates a genitive construction with either the possessivecliticsuffix "-'s",or aprepositionalgenitive construction such as "x of y". However, some irregular English pronouns do have possessive forms which may more commonly be described as genitive (seeEnglish possessive). The names of the astronomical constellations have genitive forms which are used in star names, for example the starMintakain the constellationOrion(genitive Orionis) is also known as Delta Orionis or 34 Orionis.

Many languages have a genitive case, includingAlbanian,Arabic,Armenian,Basque,Danish,Dutch,Estonian,Finnish,Georgian,German,Greek,Gothic,Hungarian,Icelandic,Irish,Kannada,Latin,Latvian,Lithuanian,Malayalam,Nepali,Romanian,Sanskrit,Scottish Gaelic,Swedish,Tamil,Telugu,allSlavic languagesexceptMacedonian,and most of theTurkic languages.

Functions

Depending on the language, specific varieties of genitive-noun–main-noun relationships may include:

• possession(seepossessivecase,possessed case):
  • inalienable possession( "Janet'sheight ","Janet'sexistence ","Janet'slong fingers ")
  • alienable possession( "Janet'sjacket ","Janet'sdrink ")
  • relationship indicated by the noun being modified ( "Janet'shusband ")
• composition (seePartitive):
  • substance ( "a wheelof cheese")
  • elements ( "a groupof men")
  • source ( "a portionof the food")
• participation in an action:
  • as anagent( "She benefited fromher father'slove ") – this is called thesubjective genitive(Compare "Her father loved her", whereHer fatheris thesubject.)
  • as apatient( "the loveof music") – this is called theobjective genitive(Compare "She loves music", wheremusicis theobject.)
• origin ( "menof Rome")
• reference ( "the capitalof the Republic"or"the Republic'scapital ")
• description ( "manof honour","dayof reckoning")
• compounds ( "doomsday "(" doom's day "),Scottish Gaelic"ball coise"=" football ", where"coise"= gen. of"cas","foot ")
• apposition(the city of Rome)

Depending on the language, some of the relationships mentioned above have their own distinct cases different from the genitive.

Possessive pronounsare distinct pronouns, found in Indo-European languages such as English, that function like pronouns inflected in the genitive. They are considered separate pronouns if contrasting to languages where pronouns are regularly inflected in the genitive. For example, Englishmyis either a separatepossessive adjectiveor an irregular genitive ofI,while in Finnish, for example,minunis regularlyagglutinatedfromminu-"I" and-n(genitive).

In some languages, nouns in the genitive case alsoagreein case with the nouns they modify (that is, it is marked for two cases). This phenomenon is calledsuffixaufnahme.

In some languages, nouns in the genitive case may be found ininclusio– that is, between the main noun'sarticleand the noun itself.

English

Further information:English possessive

Old Englishhad a genitive case, which has left its mark in modern English in the form of the possessive ending 's(now sometimes referred to as the "Saxon genitive" ), as well as possessive adjective forms such ashis,their,etc., and in certain words derived fromadverbial genitivessuch asonceandafterwards.(Other Old English case markers have generally disappeared completely.) The modern English possessive forms are not normally considered to represent a grammatical case, although they are sometimes referred to as genitives or as belonging to apossessive case.One of the reasons that the status of'sas a case ending is often rejected is that it does not behave as such, but rather as a clitic marking that indicates that a dependency relationship exists between phrases. One can saythe King's war,but alsothe King of France's war,where the genitive marker is attached to the full noun phrasethe King of France,whereas case markers are normally attached to theheadof a phrase. In languages having a true genitive case, such as Old English, this example may be expressed asþes cynges wyrre of France,literally "the King's war of France", with the'sattaching tothe King.

Finnic genitives and accusatives

Finnic languages(Finnish,Estonian,etc.) have genitive cases.

In Finnish, prototypically the genitive is marked with-n,e.g.maa – maan"country – of the country". The stem may change, however, withconsonant gradationand other reasons. For example, in certain words ending in consonants,-e-is added, e.g.mies – miehen"man – of the man", and in some, but not all words ending in-i,the-iis changed to an-e-,to give-en,e.g.lumi – lumen"snow – of the snow". The genitive is used extensively, with animate and inanimate possessors. In addition to the genitive, there is also apartitive case(marked-ta/-täor-a/-ä) used for expressing that something is a part of a larger mass, e.g.joukko miehiä"a group of men".

In Estonian, the genitive marker-nhas elided with respect to Finnish. Thus, the genitive always ends with a vowel, and the singular genitive is sometimes (in a subset of words ending with a vocal in nominative) identical in form to nominative.

In Finnish, in addition to the uses mentioned above, there is a construct where the genitive is used to mark a surname. For example,Juhani Virtanencan be also expressedVirtasen Juhani( "Juhani of the Virtanens" ).

A complication in Finnic languages is that theaccusative case-(e)nis homophonic to the genitive case. This case does not indicate possession, but is a syntactic marker for the object, additionally indicating that the action istelic(completed). InEstonian,it is often said that only a "genitive" exists. However, the cases have completely different functions, and the form of the accusative has developed from *-(e)m.(The same sound change has developed into a synchronic mutation of a finalmintonin Finnish, e.g. genitivesydämenvs. nominativesydän.) This homophony has exceptions inFinnish,where a separate accusative-(e)tis found in pronouns, e.g.kenet"who (telic object)", vs.kenen"whose".

A difference is also observed in some of the relatedSámi languages,where the pronouns and the plural of nouns in the genitive and accusative are easily distinguishable from each other, e.g.,kuä'cǩǩmi"eagles' (genitive plural)" andkuä'cǩǩmid"eagles (accusative plural)" inSkolt Sami.

German

Formation

Articles

The genitive singular definite article for masculine and neuter nouns isdes,while the feminine and plural definite article isder.The indefinite articles areeinesfor masculine and neuter nouns, andeinerfor feminine and plural nouns (although the bare form cannot be used in the plural, it manifests inkeiner,meiner,etc.)

Nouns

Singular masculine and neuter nouns of the strong declension in the genitive case are marked with-(e)s.Generally, one-syllable nouns favour the-esending, and it is obligatory with nouns ending with a sibilant such assorz.Otherwise, a simple-sending is usual. Feminine and plural nouns remain uninflected:

• des Beitrags(of the contribution) – masculine
• der Blume(of the flower) – feminine
• des Landes(of the country) – neuter
• der Bäume(of the trees) – plural

Singular masculine nouns (and one neuter noun) of the weak declension are marked with an-(e)n(or rarely-(e)ns) ending in the genitive case:

• des Raben(of the raven) – masculine
• des Herzens(of the heart) – neuter

Adjectives

The declension of adjectives in the genitive case is as follows:

	Masculine & Neuter	Feminine & Plural
With article	-en	-en
With no article		-er

Personal pronouns

The genitive personal pronouns are quite rare and either very formal, literary or outdated. They are as follows (with comparison to the nominative pronouns):

Nominative	Genitive
ich(I)	meiner
du(you sg.)	deiner
er(he)	seiner
es(it)
wir(we)	unser
ihr(you pl.)	euer
Sie(you formal sg./pl.)	Ihrer
sie(she/they)	ihrer

Some examples:

• Würden Sie stattmeinergehen?(Would you go insteadof me?)
• Wir sindihrernicht würdig(We are not worthyof her/them)
• Ich werdeeuergedenken(I will commemorateyou)

Relative pronouns

Unlike the personal ones, the genitive relative pronouns are in regular use and are as follows (with comparison to the nominative relative pronouns):

	Nominative	Genitive
Masculine	der	dessen
Neuter	das
Feminine & Plural	die	deren

Some examples:

• Kennst du den Schüler,dessenMutter eine Hexe ist?(Do you know the studentwhosemother is a witch?) – masculine
• Sie ist die Frau,derenMann Rennfahrer ist(She is the womanwhosehusband is a racer) – feminine

Usage

Nouns

The genitive case is often used to show possession or the relation between nouns:

• die FarbedesHimmels(the colourof thesky)
• Deutschland liegt im HerzenEuropas(Germany lies in the heartof Europe)
• der Todseiner Frau(the deathof his wife)
• die Entwicklungdieser Länder(the developmentof these countries)

A simplesis added to the end of a name:

• ClaudiasBuch(Claudia'sbook)

Prepositions

The genitive case is also commonly found after certain prepositions:

• innerhalbeines Tages(withina day)
• stattdesHemdes(insteadof the shirt)
• währendunsererAbwesenheit(duringour absence)
• jenseitsder Berge(beyondthe mountains)

Adjectives

The genitive case can sometimes be found in connection with certain adjectives:

• Wir sind unsdessenbewusst(We are awareof that)
• Er istdes Diebstahlsschuldig(He is guiltyof theft)
• Das Kind istder Ruhebedürftig(The child is in needof calmness)
• Ich werdedieses Lebensüberdrüssig(I am growing wearyof this life)

Verbs

The genitive case is occasionally found in connection with certain verbs (some of which require an accusative before the genitive); they are mostly either formal or legal:

• Die Stadt erfreut sicheines günstigen Klimas(The city enjoysa favourable climate)
• Gedenken Sieder Totendes Krieges(Rememberthose who diedin (the) war)
• Wer klagte ihndes Mordesan?(Who accused himof murder?)
• Man verdächtigt euchdes Betrugs(Someone suspects youof (committing) fraud)

Greek

Theablative caseof Indo-European was absorbed into the genitive in Classical Greek.This added to the usages of the "genitive proper", the usages of the "ablatival genitive". The genitive occurs with verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions. See alsoGenitive absolute.

Hungarian

TheHungariangenitive is constructed using the suffix-é.

• madár('bird');madáré('bird's')

The genitive-ésuffix is only used with the predicate of a sentence: it serves the role of mine, yours, hers, etc. The possessed object is left in the nominative case. For example:

• A csőr a madáré('The beak is the bird's').

If the possessor is not the predicate of the sentence, the genitive is not used. Instead, the possessive suffixes (-(j)eor-(j)ain the third person singular, depending onvowel harmony) mark the possessed object. The possessor is left in the nominative if it directly precedes the possessed object (otherwise it takes a dative-nak/-neksuffix). For example:

• csőr('beak');csőre('its beak')
• a madár csőre/csőre a madárnak('the bird's beak')

In addition, the suffix-i('of') is also used. For example:

• madár('bird');madári('avian', 'of bird(s)')

Japanese

Japaneseconstrues the genitive by using thegrammatical particlenoの. It can be used to show a number of relationships to the head noun. For example:

Miêu の tayneko-no te( "cat's paw" )

Học sinh の một ngườigakusei-no hitori( "one of the students)

Kim の chỉ luânkin-no yubiwa( "a ring of gold" )

Kinh đô の どこKyouto-no doko( "where of (in) Kyoto" )

Phú sĩ の sơnFuji-no yama( "the mountain of Fuji" [Mt. Fuji])

The archaic genitive case particle-ga～が is still retained in certain expressions, place names, and dialects. Possessivegacan also be written as asmall ke(ヶ), for example inKasumigaoka(Hà ヶ khâu).

Typically, languages have nominative case nouns converting into genitive case. It has been found, however, that theKansai dialectof Japanese will in rare cases allow accusative case to convert to genitive, if specific conditions are met in the clause in which the conversion appears. This is referred to as "Accusative-Genitive conversion."

Latin

The genitive is one of the cases of nouns and pronouns inLatin.Latin genitives still have certain modern scientific uses:

• Scientific namesof living things sometimes contain genitives, as in the plant nameBuddleja davidii,meaning "David's buddleia". Heredavidiiis the genitive ofDavidius,aLatinizedversion of the Hebrew name. It is not capitalized because it is the second part of a binomial name.
• Names of astronomical constellations are Latin, and the genitives of their names are used in naming objects in those constellations, as in theBayer designationof stars. For example, the brightest star in the constellationVirgois calledAlpha Virginis,which is to say "Alpha of Virgo", asvirginisis the genitive ofvirgō.Plural forms and adjectives also decline accordingly: pluralAlpha Piscium(Pisces) andAlpha Canum Venaticorum(Canes Venatici) versus singularAlpha Piscis Austrini(Piscis Austrinus) andAlpha Canis Majoris(Canis Major). Astronomy manuals often list the genitive forms, as some are easy to get wrong even with a basic knowledge of Latin, e.g.Vela,which is a neuter plural not a feminine singular:Delta Velorumnot *Delta Velae.
• Modus operandi,which can be translated to English as "mode of operation", in whichoperandiis a singular genitivegerund(i.e. "of operation" ), not a plural ofoperandusas is sometimes mistakenly assumed.

Irish

TheIrish languagealso uses a genitive case (tuiseal ginideach). For example, in the phrasebean an tí(woman of the house),tíis the genitive case ofteach,meaning "house". Another example isbarr an chnoic,"top of the hill", wherecnocmeans "hill", but is changed tochnoic,which also incorporateslenition.

Mandarin

InMandarin Chinese,the genitive case is made by use of the particle (de).

Ta

wǒ

de

Miêu

māo

[Ta miêu]

TaMiêu

wǒdemāo

my cat

However, about persons in relation to oneself, is often dropped when the context allows for it to be easily understood.

Ta

wǒ

de

Mụ mụ

māmā

→

Ta

wǒ

Mụ mụ

māmā

[Ta mụ mụ]

TaMụ mụ → ta mụ mụ

wǒdemāmā {} wǒ māmā

both mean "my mother"

Persian

Main article:Ezāfe

Old Persianhad a true genitive case inherited fromProto-Indo-European.By the time ofMiddle Persian,the genitive case had been lost and replaced by an analytical construction which is now calledEzāfe.This construction was inherited byNew Persian,and was also later borrowed into numerous otherIranic,TurkicandIndo-Aryanlanguages of Western and South Asia.

Semitic languages

Genitive case marking existed inProto-Semitic,Akkadian,andUgaritic.It indicated possession, and it is preserved today only inArabic.

Akkadian

Nominative:šarrum(king)

Genitive:aššat šarrim(wife of king = king's wife)

Arabic

Called المجرورal-majrūr(meaning "dragged" ) inArabic,the genitive case functions both as an indication of ownership (ex. the doorof the house) and for nouns following a preposition.

Nominative: ٌبيتbaytun(a house)

Genitive: ٍبابُ بيتbābu baytin(door of a house) ِبابُ البيتbābu l-bayti(door of the house)

The Arabic genitive marking also appears after prepositions.

e.g. ٍبابٌ لبيتbābun li-baytin(a doorfora house)

The Semitic genitive should not be confused with the pronominal possessive suffixes that exist in all the Semitic languages

e.g. Arabic بيتيbayt-ī(my house) َكتابُكkitābu-ka(your [masc.] book).

Slavic languages

With the exception of Bulgarian and Macedonian, allSlavic languagesdecline the nouns and adjectives in accordance with the genitive case using a variety of endings depending on the word'slexical category,its gender, number (singular or plural) and in some cases meaning. For instance, in RussianBroutona(lit.Broughton's) island name, its genitive/possessive case is created by addingaaffixto the explorer's name.

Possessives

To indicate possession the ending of the noun indicating the possessor changes depending on the word's ending in thenominative case. For example, toa, u, i,oryinPolish,а, я, ы,orиinRussian,а, я, y, ю, і, иorейinUkrainian,and similar cases in other Slavic languages.

Nominative: (pol.) "Oto Anton" / (rus.) "Вот Антон" / (ukr.) "Ось Антон" ( "Here is Anton" ).

Genitive: (pol.) "Oto obiad Antonа"/ (rus.)" Вот обед Антона"/ (ukr.)" Ось oбід Антона"(" Here is Anton's lunch ").

Possessives can also be formed by the construction (pol.) "u [subject] jest [object]" / (rus.) "У [subject] есть [object]" / (ukr.) "у(в) [subject] є [object]"

Nominative: (pol.) "Oto Anton" / (rus.) "Вот Антон" / (ukr.) "Ось Антон" ( "Here is Anton" ).

Genitive: (pol.) "u Antonаjest obiad / (rus.) "У Антонаесть обед "/ (ukr.)" У(В) Антонає обід "(" Anton has a lunch ", literally:" (There) is a lunch at Anton's ").

In sentences where the possessor includes an associated pronoun, the pronoun also changes:

Nominative: (pol.) Oto mój brat / (rus.) "Вот мой брат" / (ukr.) "От мій брат" ( "Here is my brother" ).

Genitive: (pol.) "u mojegobratаjest obiad / (rus.) "У моегобратаесть обед "/ (ukr.)" У могобратає обід "(" My brother has a lunch ", literally:" (There) is a lunch at my_brother's ").

And in sentences denoting negative possession, the ending of the object noun also changes:

Nominative: (pol.) "Oto Irena" / (rus.) "Вот Ирена" / (ukr.) "От Ірена" ( "Here is Irene" ).

Genitive: (pol.) "Irena nie ma obiadu( "Irene does not have a lunch" ) or (pol.) "u Irenynie ma obiadu( "(There) is no lunch at Irene's" )

The Polish phrase "nie ma [object]" can work both as a negation of having [object] or a negation of an existence of [object], but the meaning of the two sentences and its structure is different. (In the first case [subject] is Irene, and in the second case [subject] is virtual, it is "the space" at Irene's place, not Irene herself)

Genitive: (rus.) "У Иренынет обеда"(" Irene does not have a lunch ", literally:" (There) is no lunch at Irene's ").

The Russian word "нет" is a contraction of "не" + "есть". In Russian there is no distinction between [subject] not having an [object] and [object] not being present at [subject]'s.

Genitive: (ukr.) "Ірена не має обіду( "Irene does not have a lunch" ) or (ukr.) "y Іренинема(є) обіду( "At Irene's does not have a lunch" )

Note the difference between the spelling "не має [object]" and "нема(є) [object]" in both cases.

To express negation

The genitive case is also used in sentences expressing negation, even when no possessive relationship is involved. The ending of the subject noun changes just as it does in possessive sentences. The genitive, in this sense, can only be used to negate nominative, accusative and genitive sentences, and not other cases.

Nominative: (pol.) "(Czy) Maria jest w domu?" / (rus.) "Мария дома?" / (Чи) Марія (є) вдома? ( "Is Maria at home?" ).

Genitive: (pol.) "Mariinie ma w domu "(" Maria is not at home ", literally:" [virtual subject] has no Maria at home ")

Genitive: (rus.) "Мариинет дома "(" Maria is not at home ", literally:" Of Maria there is none at home. ").

Genitive: (ukr.) "Маріїнема(є) вдома "(" Maria is not at home ", literally:" [virtual subject] has no Maria at home. ")

Accusative: (pol.) "Mogę rozczytać twoje pismo" / (rus.) Могу (про)читать твой почерк / (ukr.) Можу (про)читати твій почерк ( "I can read your handwriting" )

Genitive: (pol.) "Nie mogę rozczytać twojegopisma"/ (rus.)" Не могу (про)читать твоегопочерка"/ (ukr.)" Не можу (про)читати твогопочерку"(" I can't read your handwriting ")

Use of genitive for negation is obligatory inSlovene,PolishandOld Church Slavonic.Some East Slavic languages ( e.g.RussianandBelarusian) employ either the accusative or genitive for negation, although the genitive is more commonly used. InCzech,SlovakandSerbo-Croatian,negating with the genitive case is perceived as rather archaic and the accusative is preferred, but genitive negation in these languages is still not uncommon, especially in music and literature.

Partial direct object

The genitive case is used with some verbs andmass nounsto indicate that the action covers only a part of the direct object (having a function of non-existing partitive case), whereas similar constructions using theAccusative casedenote full coverage. Compare the sentences:

Genitive: (pol.) "Napiłem się wody"/ (rus.)" Я напился воды"/ (ukr.)" Я напився води"(" I drank water, "i.e." I drank some water, part of the water available ")

Accusative: (pol.) "Wypiłem wodę"/ (rus.)" Я выпил воду/ (ukr.) "Я випив воду( "I drankthewater, "i.e." I drank all the water, all the water in question ")

In Russian, specialpartitive caseor sub-case is observed for some uncountable nouns which in some contexts have preferred alternative form on -у/ю instead of standard genitive on -а/я: выпил чаю('drank some tea'), but сорта чая('sorts of tea').

Prepositional constructions

The genitive case is also used in many prepositional constructions. (Usually when some movement or change of state is involved, and when describing the source / destination of the movement. Sometimes also when describing the manner of acting.)

• Czech prepositions using genitive case: od (from), z, ze (from), do (into), bez (without), kromě (excepting), místo (instead of), podle (after, according to), podél (along), okolo (around), u (near, by), vedle (beside), během (during), pomocí (using, by the help of), stran (as regards) etc.
• Polish prepositions using genitive case: od (from), z, ze (from), do, w (into), na (onto), bez (without), zamiast (instead of), wedle (after, according to), wzdłuż (along), około (around), u (near, by), koło (beside), podczas (during), etc.
• Russian prepositions using genitive case: от (from), с, со (from), до (before, up to), без (without), кроме (excepting), вместо (instead of), после (after), вдоль (along), около (around), у (near, by), во время (during), насчёт (regarding), etc.

Turkish

TheTurkishgenitive, formed with a genitive suffix for the possessor, is used in combination with a possessive for the possessed entity, formed with apossessive suffix.For example, in "my mother's mother", the possessor is "my mother", and the possessed entity is "[her] mother". In Turkish:

Nominative:anne( "mother" );

First-person possessive:annem( "my mother" );

Third-person possessive:annesi( "[someone]'s mother" );

Genitive ofannem:annemin( "my mother's" );

Genitive and possessive combined:annemin annesi( "my mother's mother", i.e., "my maternal grandmother" ).

Albanian

The genitive inAlbanianis formed with the help of clitics. For example:

Nominative:libër('book');vajzë('girl');

Genitive:libri i vajzës(the girl's book)

If the possessed object is masculine, the clitic isi.If the possessed object is feminine, the clitic ise.If the possessed object is plural, the clitic iseregardless of the gender.

The genitive is used with some prepositions:me anë('by means of'),nga ana('on behalf of', 'from the side of'),për arsye('due to'),për shkak('because of'),me përjashtim('with the exception of'),në vend('instead of').

Armenian

The genitive in Armenian is generally formed by adding "-ի":

Nominative: աղջիկ ('girl'); գիրք ('book');

Genitive: աղջիկի գիրքը ( "the girl's book" ).

However, there are certain words that are not formed this way. For example, words with ուն change to ան:

Nominative: տուն ('house'), Genitive: տան ( "house's" ).

Dravidian languages

Kannada

In Kannada, the genitive case-endings are:

for masculine or feminine nouns ending in "ಅ" (a): ನ (na)

• Examples:sūrya-na('of the sun')

for neuter nouns ending in "ಅ" (a): ದ (da)

• Examples:mara-da('of the tree')

for all nouns ending in "ಇ" (i), "ಈ" (ī), "ಎ" (e), or "ಏ" (ē): ಅ (a)

• Examples:mane-y-a('of the house'; a linking "y" is added between the stem and the suffix)

for all nouns ending in "ಉ" (u), "ಊ" (ū), "ಋ" (r̥), or "ೠ" (r̥̄): ಇನ (ina)

• Examples;guru-v-ina('of the teacher'; a linking "v" is added between the stem and the suffix)

Most postpositions in Kannada take the genitive case.

Tamil

In Tamil, the genitive case ending is the word உடைய or இன், which signifies possession. Depending on the last letter of the noun, the genitive case endings may vary.

If the last letter is a consonant (மெய் எழுத்து), like க், ங், ச், ஞ், ட், ண், த், ந், ப், ம், ய், ர், ல், வ், ழ், then the suffix உடைய/இன் gets added. *Examples: His: அவன் + உடைய = அவனுடைய, Doctor's: மருத்துவர் + உடைய = மருத்துவருடைய, மருத்துவர் + இன் = மருத்துவரின் Kumar's: குமார் + உடைய = குமாருடைய, குமார்+ இன் = குமாரின்

See also

• Genitive construction
• Possessive case

Further reading

• Karlsson, Fred (2018).Finnish - A Comprehensive Grammar.London and New York: Routledge.ISBN978-1-138-82104-0.
• Anhava, Jaakko (2015)."Criteria For Case Forms in Finnish and Hungarian Grammars".journal.fi.Helsinki: Finnish Scholarly Journals Online.

External links

• German genitive caseA lesson covering the genitive case in the German language
• Russian genitive:[1],[2],[3]
• Genitive Case In Arabic