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Lesson 50B2

Genitive Prepositions: trotz, während, wegen, statt

நான்காம் வேற்றுமையுடன் இணையும் முன்னிடைச்சொற்கள்

A handful of formal prepositions demand the genitive case you learned back in Lesson 27 — completing the case-preposition system you started building in A2.

Grammar Comparison

இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு

The genitive's main job outside of possession

German

trotz des Regens (despite the rain — Regen takes genitive -s)

Tamil

மழை இருந்தாலும் (concessive suffix -ஆலும், not a case-marked noun)

Outside of showing possession, the genitive case's biggest remaining job in modern German is following this small set of prepositions: trotz ('despite'), während ('during'), wegen ('because of'), and statt ('instead of'). Tamil doesn't route these meanings through its case system at all — trotz's meaning, for instance, overlaps with the -ஆலும் concessive suffix from the concessive clauses lesson rather than a case-marked noun. Treat this short preposition list as the genitive's practical payoff: once you know des Mannes, these four prepositions are just new contexts for a case ending you've already learned.

Vocabulary

சொற்கள்

GermanPronunciationTamilEnglish
trotz (+Gen.)trotsஇருந்தாலும்irundhālumdespite
während (+Gen.)VAY-rentகாலத்தில்kālaththilduring
wegen (+Gen.)VAY-genகாரணமாகkāraṇamāgabecause of
statt (+Gen.)shtaht-க்கு பதிலாக-kku padhilāgainstead of