genitive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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The species name populi is a Latin singular noun in the genitive case meaning "of the people."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2026
During the Force Majeure show, Izzard gets to grips with German sentence structure and declensions, earning knowing applause from the Berlin crowd for his perfect use of the fiendishly tricky genitive case at one stage.
From Reuters ● Jan. 29, 2014
The genitive you are mine / is a phrase I cherished only when I'd moved on / and couldn't use it.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2013
The clumsy examples above show that long and complicated subjects are best left unmarked, whereas simpler ones like pronouns work well in the genitive, as in I appreciate your coming over to help.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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But add either an article, as in A daughter cooked dinner, or a genitive, as in Jenny’s daughter cooked dinner, and the sentence is complete.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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Shakspeare, for example, uses Lucrece and cockatrice as genitives.
From Notes and Queries, Number 203, September 17, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell
In phrases such as “son of the father,” or “father of the son,” the genitives have the same effect.
From Lectures on The Science of Language by Max Müller
It signifies, “fair the world,” i.e. happy, and is used with possessive pronouns and appositional genitives.
From A Handbook of the Cornish Language chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature by Henry Jenner
Very many of the Greek "genitives absolute," we remember, were to be rendered by quum, with a subjunctive pluperfect—an enormous mystery to us at the time.
From Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding
To take a single instance: it is impossible that the genitives in -οιο and in -ου should both have been in everyday use together.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various