German Genitive Verbs

 

German Genitive Verbs

There are only a few verbs that use the genitive case. These verbs are usually found in formal writing (literature, in court or at the police station). They are rarely used in conversational German.

During conversations, a genitive verb can be easily replaced by another verb with the same meaning. Another easier way is to add a preposition. Here’s a list of genitive verbs in German:-

German	English
bedürfen	to need / require
gedenken	to commemorate
sich erinnern	to remember
sich brüsten	to brag / boast about
sich schämen	to be ashamed of
sich vergewissern	to make sure of / ascertain
sich enthalten	to abstain from
verdächtigen	to suspect of

• Er bedarf meiner Hilfe. (He needs my help.)
  Here, the verb bedürfen can be replaced by the verb brauchen. So, the same sentence can be written as – Er braucht meine Hilfe.
• Ich schäme mich meiner Dummheit. (I am ashamed of my foolishness.)
  Here, we can add the preposition für. So, the same sentence can be written as – Ich schäme mich für meine Dummheit.