B1 · Prepositions
Prepositions with the genitive
wegen, während, trotz, statt
The register of written German — and a clear case where speech has already moved on.
At a glance
- Remember
- Genitive in writing, dative in speech, and know the difference.
- Form
- wegen des schlechten Wetterswegen
- Signal words
- wegen
- während
- trotz
- statt
- innerhalb
- außerhalb
- aufgrund
- Trap
- Wrong:Wegen dem Regen bleiben wir zu Hause. (geschrieben)Right:Wegen des Regens bleiben wir zu Hause.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself3 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in German.
| wegen | wegen des schlechten Wetters |
| während | während der Sitzung |
| trotz | trotz des Regens |
| statt | statt eines Briefes |
| innerhalb | innerhalb einer Woche |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
wegen, während, trotz, statt, innerhalb and außerhalb take the genitive.
Wegen des Streiks fahren keine Busse.No buses are running because of the strike.
In speech the dative is widespread and is treated as an error in writing.
Während der Fahrt bitte nicht aufstehen.Please do not stand up while the vehicle is moving.
With no article and no adjective, the noun stays bare, and a plural takes the dative.
Wegen Umbau geschlossen.Closed for refurbishment.
The formal ones — aufgrund, hinsichtlich, bezüglich — belong to official prose only.
Aufgrund der neuen Regelung entfällt der Termin.The appointment is cancelled owing to the new arrangement.
Example sentences
Trotz des schlechten Wetters sind wir gelaufen.We walked in spite of the bad weather.
Innerhalb einer Woche bekommen Sie Bescheid.You will hear within a week.
Statt eines Anrufs kam eine Mail.Instead of a call there was an email.
Außerhalb der Öffnungszeiten ist niemand da.Nobody is there outside opening hours.
Während des Konzerts sind Fotos verboten.Photographs are forbidden during the concert.
8 more example sentences
Während der Woche habe ich keine Zeit.I have no time during the week.
Trotz aller Bemühungen hat es nicht geklappt.In spite of all efforts it did not work out.
Innerhalb des Gebäudes gilt Rauchverbot.Smoking is prohibited inside the building.
Statt des Zuges nehmen wir den Bus.Instead of the train we are taking the bus.
Wegen eines Unfalls war die Straße gesperrt.The road was closed because of an accident.
Außerhalb der Stadt ist es ruhiger.It is quieter outside the town.
Aufgrund der Lage wurde der Termin verschoben.The appointment was moved in view of the situation.
Während des Umbaus bleibt das Geschäft offen.The shop stays open during the refurbishment.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
This is one of the clearest places in this grammar where the correct form and the usual form differ. In conversation the dative is normal across the German-speaking area; in anything written it is marked as an error, and in an exam it costs marks. Knowing both and knowing which room you are in is the whole skill here.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A small group of prepositions takes the genitive: wegen, während, trotz, statt, innerhalb, außerhalb, and in formal writing aufgrund, anlässlich, hinsichtlich, bezüglich. They belong to written and official German and are worth learning as writing vocabulary.
Spoken German has largely moved them to the dative: wegen dem Wetter is what people say, and grammars object. The safest position for a learner is to use the genitive in writing, recognise the dative in speech, and know that the objection exists.
One case is not a matter of register at all. Where a noun has neither article nor adjective, a singular simply stays bare — wegen Umbau geschlossen — and a plural, whose genitive would be invisible, takes the dative as a matter of rule rather than tolerance: wegen Geschäften. (With an adjective the genitive shows again: wegen starken Regens.)
A closer look
A case retreating in real time
The genitive has been losing ground in German for centuries, and these prepositions are where the retreat is visible right now. Wegen took the genitive without question a hundred years ago; today the dative is the majority form in speech and is beginning to appear in edited prose.
What makes this worth a learner's attention is that the usual advice — imitate what native speakers say — gives the wrong answer here. Written German is more conservative than spoken German on exactly this point, and a learner writing an application or an exam is judged by the written standard. It is one of the few places where a rule beats an ear.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When wegen follows the noun rather than preceding it
then it is formal and slightly old-fashioned: des Wetters wegen.
Meinetwegen können wir gehen.As far as I am concerned we can go.
Why? The older word order survives in fixed phrases such as meinetwegen and deinetwegen.
Exception
When the noun is a bare plural with no article
then the dative is used because the genitive plural would be unmarked: wegen Bauarbeiten.
Wegen Bauarbeiten gesperrt.Closed owing to construction work.
Why? Without an article a genitive plural looks identical to a nominative, so nothing would show the case.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Notices drop everything they can
German signs compress to the point of having no article and no verb: Wegen Umbau geschlossen, Zutritt verboten, Betreten auf eigene Gefahr. Reading them is a skill of its own, and the missing article is exactly what forces the dative in the first example.
Wegen Krankheit geschlossen.Closed owing to illness.
Worth knowing
während is also a conjunction
As a preposition während takes the genitive; as a conjunction it introduces a clause and sends the verb to the end: während ich gewartet habe. Same word, two grammars, and the thing after it decides which — a noun or a clause.
Während ich gewartet habe, hat es angefangen zu regnen.While I was waiting it started to rain.
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