The genitive is a form of a noun in some languages that shows a tie of belonging or origin — that one thing is of another, or comes from another. German, Latin, Russian, and Greek change the noun a lot to do this job.

The genitive isgenitive（所有格）是a form of a noun in some languages某些語言裡名詞的一種形式that shows a tie of belonging or origin用來表示所屬或來源的關係that one thing is of another也就是一個東西是另一個東西的or comes from another或是來自另一個東西German, Latin, Russian, and Greek德文、拉丁文、俄文和希臘文change the noun a lot會大幅改變名詞的形式to do this job來做這件事

English mostly does not: we say the girl’s book or the book of the girl. Grammar books sometimes still call that ’s the genitive; though actually many teachers just say “possessive,” and both names point at the same job.

English mostly does not英文大多不這樣做we say我們會說the girl's book or the book of the girlthe girl's book 或 the book of the girlGrammar books sometimes still call that 's the genitive文法書有時候還是把那個 's 稱作 genitivethough actually不過其實many teachers just say很多老師就只說"possessive,"「possessive（所有格）」and both names point at the same job兩個名稱指的是同一件事

You meet this word in language class, not in the street. It can be a noun (the genitive) or a describing word (a genitive form).

You meet this word你會遇到這個字in language class在語言課上not in the street不是在街上It can be a noun它可以是名詞(the genitive)（the genitive）or a describing word也可以是形容詞(a genitive form)（a genitive form）

It is not genetic, which is about genes and what a living thing inherits — they look cousin-like on the page, and that is what tricks people.

It is not它不是genetic, which is about genes and what a living thing inheritsgenetic（遺傳的），genetic 講的是基因和生物遺傳到的東西they look cousin-like on the page這兩個字在紙面上看起來像表兄弟and that is what tricks people而這正是讓人搞混的地方