In this video I explain how to use the genitive prepositions and show you some examples.

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Transcript:
Hallo und willkommen zum fünfunddreißigsten Video von 3 Minuten Deutsch. Today we are going to continue talking about the genitive case and talk about the genitive prepositions. There are 8 of them. Most textbooks I have seen only talk about four of them, which is where we will start today.

“Anstatt” means “instead of”. This one is pretty straight forward, as far as usage is concerned. You simply follow it up with the genitive case, as you would expect from a genitive preposition.

Anstatt eines Hundes werde ich eine Katze kaufen. – Instead of a dog, I will buy a cat.
Der Junge will ein Auto anstatt eines Fahrrads. – The boy wants a car instead of a bicycle.
Mein Vater kommt anstatt meiner Mutter zur Party. – My father is coming to the party instead of my mother.

You can also use “anstatt” with an infinitival clause, but that has already been covered in 3 Minuten Deutsch #25.

“Trotz” means “in spite of”. This one also works pretty much as you would expect if you simply translated from English to German using “in spite of”.

Trotz des Wetters gehe ich draußen. – In spite of the weather I am going outside.
Trotz der Empfehlung bestellen die Kunden den Rinderbraten. – In spite of the recommendation, the customers are ordering the roast beef.

“Während” means “during”. For example:

Während des Spiels schwitzen die Spieler. – During the game the players sweat.
Die Schüler sollen während der Prüfung still sein. – The students should be quiet during the test.

“Wegen” means “because of”.

Das Mädchen isst den Apfel wegen des Wurmes nicht. – The girl isn’t eating the apple because of the worm.
Wegen meines Vermieters darf ich keinen Hund haben. – Because of my landlord, I am not allowed to have a dog.

That covers the four propositions that most textbooks will cover when talking about the genitive case. There are four more, however, that all have to do with location. They aren’t any more difficult to use, but they are left out of textbooks, because they aren’t used as often as the other genitive prepositions.

“Innerhalb” means “inside of”. For example:
Der Brand begann innerhalb des Hauses. – The fire started inside of the house.
Ich höre Stimmen innerhalb meines Kopfes. – I hear voices inside of my head.

“Außerhalb” is the opposite an means “outside of”.

Die Jungen stehen außerhalb der Schule. – The boys are standing outside of the school.
Mein Hund weint außerhalb meines Autos. – My dog is whining outside of my car.

“Jenseits” is one that I rarely if ever use. It means “on the other side of” or “beyond”.

Jenseits des Gebirges sind die Yetis. – Beyond the mountains are the yetis.
Jenseits des Waldes befindet sich ein Dorf. – Beyond the forest there is a village.

“Diesseits” is the opposite and means “this side of”.

Diesseits der Grenze ist sicher. – This side of the border is secure.
Diesseits des Atlantiks ist es schöner. – This side of the Atlantic Ocean is more beautiful.

Obviously, as you have probably come to learn with the other prepositions, the trick to using these prepositions is to make sure that you understand what they mean and that you understand the basic rules of the genitive case. Test your knowledge in the comments below. If you want more information and more examples, you can check out my blog linked in the sidebar, the description, and right here.

Das ist alles für heute. Danke fürs Zuschauen. Bis zum nächsten Mal. Tschüss.

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