Which construction is preferred in the following?
- Bruder der jungen Frau
- Bruder von junger Frau
Can someone please explain the particular constructions where "von" is preferred genitive over "des/der" and vice versa.
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The most important difference is, that »Bruder von junger Frau« is wrong. It should be »Bruder von der jungen Frau«, and it is not genitive! It is dative. – Hubert Schölnast Aug 6 '16 at 15:03
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@Hubert I don't think it's wrong, since it is used regularly in news headlines like Bruder von junger Frau dreht sich im Kreis. Was dann passiert, ist absolut unglaublich. – Roland Illig Mar 30 '17 at 4:40
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@RolandIllig: Klingt nach vice, und ist ein starkes Indiz dafür, dass es falsch ist. – user unknown Mar 30 '17 at 7:02
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"Bruder von junger Frau geschlagen" bedeutet, die Frau hat ihn geschlagen. – user unknown Mar 30 '17 at 7:05
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@userunknown meinst du grammatikalisch falsch oder inhaltlich falsch? Letzteres glaube ich gerne, ersteres nicht. Dann halt ein anderes Beispiel: Mutter von fünf Kindern zu sein ist keine leichte Aufgabe – dieser Satz ist umgangssprachlich gebräuchlich und wesentlich häufiger anzutreffen als die Mutter fünfer Kinder. – Roland Illig Mar 30 '17 at 20:16
You seem to be confusing the genitive (spelling) case with the more general concept of describing a relationship or ownership.
von requires the dative and would be used like this:
[der] Bruder von der jungen Frau
[der] Bruder von einer jungen Frau
It might be a little confusing that the definite article for female nouns takes the same form for both genitive and dative: der Frau.
Without the von you'd put the "junge Frau" into genitive:
[der] Bruder der jungen Frau
[der] Bruder einer jungen Frau
The option using dative is more colloquial and used in spoken language; the option with genitive is more formal and more appropriate for written language.
I use the Genitive in formal language, also while speaking Standard German. In many German dialects, its usage has been limited or sometimes even non-existant. This idea that it does not exist in spoken language is false, especially when discussing complex topics (like at the university). However, I do not use it while speaking in my dialect.
Perhaps an analogy is best. If you are coming from the English speaking world, it's the same concept as this:
Dative "m"
The car of the man is red.
Das Auto/Der Wagen vom Mann ist rot.
Genetive "s"
Do not let the apostrophe fool you. It was only added to English in non-emphasized syllables. The "s" is a remnant of inflection.
The man's car is red.
Das Auto des Mannes ist rot.
