The German Language
Welcome to the place to learn the German Language! Come here to discuss topics or quirks related to the German language, ask any questions about learning German, provide tips to current learners, and share your journey through the German-learning process!
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Wait, is it really true that Genitiv case isn't used much? What would you do to show possession? Is it just using something like in English (the chair's leg / der Stuhls Bein vs. the leg of the chair / das Bein des Stuhles). Is it just that it's a bit formal sounding?
Apologies if any of that is wrong, I haven't used German in forever, please correct me.
Yes, it's basically dead for casual talking, we just use it when we want to sound formal.
In your example, we'd say "Stuhlbein" or "Das Bein von dem Stuhl". I don't know if the latter is correct grammar, but we use it all the time.
There's a little saying about Genitiv being replaced by Dativ: "Genitiv ins Wasser, weils Dativ ist"
Interesting. Thank you!
Adding to the other comment, there's a reasonably well known book series called:
Der Dativ ist dem Genetiv sein Tod. [The dative is the death of the genitive].
Language changes and the genitive is slowly dying out. Instead of saying "das Bein des Stuhls" you'd say "das Bein vom Stuhl" or perhaps simply "das Stuhlbein".
There's also "des Stuhles Bein" as you mentioned but this'll make you sound like you're from the 19th century.