FormName + -s + Nomen (kein Artikel): Annas Buch
Meaning and usage
To say that something belongs to a person, German usually adds an s to the name and puts it in front of the noun, with no article: Annas Buch, Toms Auto. There is no apostrophe in the normal form, so you write Annas Buch, never Anna's Buch. This works with any case, because the name itself does not change: Ich habe Toms Auto gesehen, mit Toms Auto.
If the name already ends in an s-sound, German uses an apostrophe instead of adding another s: Thomas' Auto. In everyday speech and writing, a phrase with von is also very common: das Auto von Tom. A common mistake is adding an article or an apostrophe: learners say die Annas Buch or Anna's Buch, but the correct forms are Annas Buch and, more informally, das Buch von Anna.
Examples 6
Setz dich nicht dahin. Das ist Toms Stuhl.
Don't sit there. That's Tom's chair.
Ich habe keine Einladung zu Toms Party bekommen.
I didn't get an invitation to Tom's party.
Warum bist du nicht auf Toms Feier gegangen?
Why didn't you go to Tom's party?
Habt ihr Toms Namen auf die Liste gesetzt?
Did you put Tom's name on the list?
Ich treffe mich heute abend mit Toms Eltern.
I'm going to be meeting Tom's parents tonight.
Wieso steht Toms Name nicht auf der Liste?
Why is Tom's name not on the list?
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Das ist Fahrrad. Sie fährt jeden Tag damit zur Arbeit.
Show answer
Correct answer: Annas
A name before a noun takes -s with no article and no apostrophe, so Annas Fahrrad is correct.
- Anna's uses an English-style apostrophe, which German does not use for normal names.
- Der Anna adds an article and a dative ending, which does not fit before a noun in this possessive pattern.
- Anna has no -s, so the sentence would not show that the bike belongs to her.
In this topic: The four cases
- den Mann, einen Mann masculine articles change in the accusative
- dem Kind ein Buch geben giving: the receiver is dative, the thing is accusative
- den Kindern, mit den Freunden dative plural: den plus noun with -n
- Wen? Wem? asking who with wen or wem
- Den Film kenne ich. Put an object first to highlight it
- Annas Buch, Toms Auto showing who something belongs to with a name
- das Auto von meinem Vater whose something is, with von + dative
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.