Re: Colloquial German, experiencers and the construct state

Hi!

Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> writes:
> Quoting Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>:
>
> > Yes, and it seems to have changed.  'des Mannes Haus' is also ok, but
> > archaic.
>
> It's sometimes useful if you don't recall the gender of the possessee. :)
>
> But it only seems to be used with names and name-like things (eg, _Mutters
> Geburtstag_) in speech.
Right, that's not archaic at all! :-)

But it is still a bit different.  Note that with an article, the
*real* genitive is used while 'Mutters' is a different form with a
suffixed -s:

   Mutters Geburtstag     (normal register)  -  mum's/mother's birthday
   der Mutter Geburtstag  (archaic)          -  the mother's birthday
   Geburtstag der Mutter  (written language) -  the mother's birthday

Hmm, maybe I'd say:
   Mamas Geburtstag       (even more normal) -  mum's birthday

I just noticed now that this -s is introduced there.  Very interesting!

**Henrik