Genitive Prepositions: trotz, während, wegen, statt
Genitive Prepositions: trotz, während, wegen, statt
A small set of prepositions govern the genitive case rather than dative or accusative — the formal, written-register standard, though everyday spoken German increasingly bends this rule.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
trotz, während, wegen, statt all take the genitive
trotz des Regens; wegen der Arbeit; während des Urlaubs; statt eines Autos
despite the rain; because of the work; during the vacation; instead of a car
Where English simply uses a preposition plus an unmarked noun ('because of the work'), German marks the noun itself with genitive endings: the article changes (der/das → des, die → der) and masculine/neuter nouns typically add -s or -es (der Regen → des Regens). There's no extra word doing the job that 'of' does in English — the case ending on the article and noun carries that meaning by itself.
Colloquial German increasingly uses the dative instead
trotz dem Regen (colloquial) vs. trotz des Regens (standard)
despite the rain
In casual speech, trotz, wegen, and während are very commonly heard with the dative case instead of the genitive, especially with pronouns or when the genitive form would sound clunky. This is well-established in spoken usage but still considered non-standard in careful writing — for formal writing, exams, and this course, stick with the genitive, but don't be surprised to hear native speakers use the dative in conversation.
während has a second life as a subordinating conjunction meaning 'while'
während des Urlaubs (preposition: during the vacation) vs. Während ich arbeite, hört sie Musik. (conjunction: while I work, she listens to music)
during the vacation vs. While I work, she listens to music.
As a preposition, während takes a genitive noun phrase and means 'during'. As a subordinating conjunction, während introduces a full verb-final clause and means 'while' (simultaneity), unrelated in form to the genitive rule at all. Context makes the two uses easy to tell apart — a noun phrase after während signals the preposition, a full clause with its own verb signals the conjunction — but it's worth noticing that the same word is doing two different grammatical jobs.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| trotz | trots | despite/in spite of |
| wegen | VAY-gen | because of |
| während | VAIR-ent | during |
| statt | shtaht | instead of |
| anstatt | ahn-SHTAHT | instead of (fuller form) |
| trotz des Regens | trots des RAY-gens | despite the rain |
| wegen der Arbeit | VAY-gen dair AHR-byt | because of the work |
| statt eines Autos | shtaht Y-nes OW-tohs | instead of a car |
| außerhalb | OW-ser-hahlp | outside of |
| innerhalb | IN-er-hahlp | within/inside of |
| aufgrund | owf-GROONT | due to/on the basis of |