Genitive facts for kids

The Genitive case is a special way nouns can change their form. It shows that one thing owns or possesses another. Think of it like saying "whose" something is.

Many languages around the world use the Genitive case. Some examples include Latin, Greek, Russian, Finnish, and Sanskrit. It's one of several ways nouns can change, like the nominative case (for the subject of a sentence) or the accusative case (for the direct object).

Understanding the Genitive Case

The main job of the Genitive case is to show ownership or a close relationship. For example, in a language with a Genitive case, you might change the word for "dog" to show "the dog's bone." The ending of "dog" would change to tell you it's the owner.

Genitive Examples in Other Languages

In languages like Latin, the word for "girl" is puella. If you want to say "the girl's book," you would change puella to puellae. This -ae ending tells you that the girl is the owner.

Another example is in Russian. The word for "student" is student. To say "the student's book," you would use studenta. The -a ending shows possession.

The English Possessive ('s)

Many people think the " 's " in English (like in "John's car") is a Genitive case. However, most linguists (people who study language) say it's not a true case.

Why English is Different

In English, the " 's " is called a clitic. A clitic is like a small word that attaches itself to another word or even a whole phrase. It acts like part of the word but isn't a full word on its own.

Here's an example: "The King of Sparta's wife was called Helen." If " 's " were a true Genitive case, it would attach only to the noun "Sparta." Then, it would mean the wife belonged to Sparta. But in this sentence, the " 's " attaches to the whole phrase "King of Sparta." This shows that the wife belongs to the King, not just Sparta. This is why linguists consider it a clitic, not a case.

How the English 's Developed

The English possessive " 's " did come from an older Genitive case. In Old English, the word for "bone" was ban. Its possessive form was banes.

Over time, the "e" in banes was dropped, and an apostrophe was added to show where the letter used to be. This is how we got the modern " 's " as in "bone's."

Images for kids

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  Cuneiform inscription Lugal Kiengi Kiuri 𒈗𒆠𒂗𒄀𒆠𒌵, "King of Sumer and Akkad", on a seal of Sumerian king Shulgi (r. c. 2094–2047 BCE). The final ke4 𒆤 is the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e (ergative case).

See also

In Spanish: Caso genitivo para niños