As mentioned in Section II.4, the slow death of the genitive extends to prepositions. You may hear some of the following genitive prepositions used with the dative case instead. We've noted a few where the dative is especially common.
| English equivalent(s) |
Sample usage and notes | |
|---|---|---|
| (an)statt | instead of | Statt der erwarteten Beförderung bekam er die Kündigung. Instead of the expected promotion, he was let go. |
| abzüglich | less, minus | abzüglich der Unkosten... after expenses... |
| angesichts | in view of, given | Angesichts der Tatsache, dass… In view of the fact that… |
| außerhalb | outside of | außerhalb der Stadt outside the city |
| bar | devoid of, barring any | Bar jeder Vernunft (famous cabaret in Berlin) "against all reason" |
| bezüglich (bzgl.) | concerning, regarding, with respect to |
bezüglich unseres Telefonats regarding our phone conversation |
| binnen | within [a time period] | binnen einer Woche within a/one week |
| dank | thanks to | dank Ihrer Hilfe... thanks to your help... [also frequently used in the dative] |
| einschließlich | including | einschließlich aller Kosten all expenses included |
| infolge | due to, because of | infolge einer schweren Erkrankung due to a serious illness |
| inmitten | in the middle/midst of | inmitten der Menge in the middle of the crowd |
| innerhalb | inside of | innerhalb eines kleinen Kreises within a small circle [of people] |
| mangels | for lack of (esp. legal) | Das Verfahren war mangels Beweisen eingestellt. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence. |
| mittels | by means of (esp. technical) | mittels eines Schraubenziehers... [assembly instructions] using a screwdriver... |
| oberhalb | above, beyond | oberhalb des Gefrierpunktes above the freezing point |
| unbeschadet | notwithstanding | unbeschadet des zuvor Gesagten... despite/notwithstanding what was just said... unbeschadet dessen, dass... notwithstanding the fact that... |
| ungeachtet | in spite of | Ungeachtet der Drohungen des Irans will Deutschland Sanktionen. In spite of Iran's threats, Germany wants sanctions. |
| unterhalb | below, underneath | unterhalb der Armutsgrenze below the poverty line |
| unweit | not far from | unweit des Hotels not far from the hotel |
| zugunsten | in favor of, in the interests of |
zugunsten meines Mandanten [note weak noun] in the interest of my client |
| trotz | despite | trotz des schlechten Wetters [GEN] trotz dem schlechten Wetter [DAT] despite the bad weather [Native speakers disagree about whether the correct usage of "trotz" is genitive or dative. This is partly a North/South thing and partly a function of how it sounds with different nouns. We had to put it somewhere, but you can absolutely use it either way.] |
| während | during | Während des Semesters gelten folgende Sprechstunden... During the semester the following office hours apply... |
| wegen | because of | wegen Krankheit geschlossen closed due to illness [Like "dank" and "trotz" this is very commonly used in the dative.] |
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