12.10 Genitive or "von"?

The use of the genitive to link nouns is more common in written and formal German. In everyday speech however, a phrase with "von" followed by the dative is often used rather than a genitive. The use of "von" should nevertheless be avoided wher possible in formal and written German.

 

Grammar 10: Genitive or "von"?

das Haus meines Vaters (= written)

das Haus von meinem Vater (= spoken)

("my father's house")

die Wohnung meiner Eltern (= written)

die Wohnung von meinen Eltern (= spoken)

("my parents' flat")

in der Nähe des Bahnhofs (= written)

in der Nähe vom Bahnhof (= spoken)

("near the station")

südlich der Stadt (= written)

südlich von der Stadt (= spoken)

("south of the city")

 

Notes

1. A construction with "von" is not possible after the genitive prepositions auf Grund, inklusive, statt, trotz, während and wegen.

 

2. The genitive cannot be used however to translate "of" followed by the personal pronoun - i.e. "of him", "of her" etc. For these instances "von" followed by the dative case must be used:

 

jeder von uns

(each of us)

ein Freund von mir

(a friend of mine)

3. "Von" (+ Dative) should also be used if a noun stands by itself, without an article or any other word with an ending to show the case:

 

nordwestlich von Dresden

(north-west of Dresden)

südöstlich von Luzern

(south-east of Lucerne)

der Preis von zwölf Eiern

(the price of twelve eggs)

die Sanierung von Altbauten

(the renovation of old buildings)