genitive Definition
relating to or denoting a case (especially in Latin, Greek, German, and other inflected languages) of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives indicating possession or close association..
Using genitive: Examples
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with how "genitive" can be used in various situations through the following examples!
Example
In the sentence 'John's car', 'John' is in the genitive case.
Example
The genitive form of 'she' is 'her'.
Example
The genitive case is used to show possession.
genitive Synonyms and Antonyms
Synonyms for genitive
- possessive
- belonging
Phrases with genitive
a grammatical construction consisting of a noun or pronoun in the genitive case followed by a participle and having the force of a clause with a predicate.
Example
In the sentence 'His father having died, he became king', 'his father having died' is a genitive absolute.
double genitive
a construction in which a noun is preceded by both an article and a possessive pronoun, as in 'a friend of mine'.
Example
In the sentence 'This is a picture of a friend of mine', 'of mine' is a double genitive.
a use of the genitive case to indicate that one thing is a part of another, as in 'a piece of cake'.
Example
In the sentence 'I would like a slice of pizza', 'of pizza' is a partitive genitive.
Summary: genitive in Brief
The term 'genitive' [ˈdʒɛnətɪv] refers to a grammatical case used in inflected languages to indicate possession or close association. It is exemplified by sentences like 'John's car' and 'The genitive case is used to show possession.' 'Genitive' extends into phrases like 'genitive absolute,' a construction consisting of a noun or pronoun in the genitive case followed by a participle, and 'double genitive,' a construction in which a noun is preceded by both an article and a possessive pronoun.
