5.4 Prepositions with the genitive

A common alternative is an [ dative] … entlang, which indicates movement alongside (but not down the middle):

Sie gingen am Fluss entlang. Wir fuhren an der Mauer entlang. They walked along the river. We drove along the wall.

Prepositions followed by a noun phrase in the genitive are largely restricted to formal written language.

Four frequent prepositions governing the genitive

(An)statt corresponds to English ‘instead of’:

Statt eines Briefes schickte er ihr eine E-Mail. Instead of a letter he sent her an e-mail.

Trotz corresponds toEnglish‘despite’, ‘in spite of’:

Trotz des Regens fand das Festival statt. The festival took place despite the rain.

Während refers to time English ‘during’:

Während des Sommers blieben sie in Bozen. They stayed in Bolzano during the summer.

Wegen corresponds toEnglish ‘because of’:

In colloquial speech these prepositions are often used with the DATIVE.

Sie konnten wegen des Schnees nicht kommen. They couldn’t come because of the snow.

Other prepositions governing the genitive

Eight further prepositions expressing position govern the genitive:

These are often used with a following von instead of a genitive, especially in spoken German:

außerhalb des Rings outside

innerhalb Berlins inside, within oberhalb des Hauses above unterhalb des Knies underneath, below diesseits der Grenze on this side of jenseits des Meeres on the other side of beiderseits der Tür on either side of unweit der Stadt not far from

Sie wohnt außerhalb des Ortes/außerhalb von dem Ort. She lives outside the village/town.