A use of the genitive case which you will frequently come across is the partitive genitive. There is a clue in the first ‘part’ of the word partitive:
a glass ¦ of wine: 'glass' is a smaller part of something larger
Here are some more examples:
some ¦ of my friends (not all my friends)
a pound ¦ of cheese (not all the cheese, only a certain amount of it)
a basket ¦ of apples (not all apples, only a certain quantity of them)
The partitive frequently occurs when quantities are being expressed. A quantity could be [i] a specific amount e.g. weight, or [ii] it can refer to an object e.g. a sack or a basket in which a certain amount can be contained or [iii] another word or phrase that expresses a lesser amount e.g. some ¦ of my friends
Again, the French language uses de to express the same idea e.g. une bouteille ¦ de vin (a bottle of wine) and so, in this respect, both languages match one another. In German, Russian - and Latin - this concept is expressed by the use of the genitive case.
[pecūnia] > sacculus ¦ pecūniae: a bag ¦ of money
[garum: fish sauce] > amphora ¦ garī: an amphora ¦ of fish sauce
Here are some other examples:
- vīnum > amphora ¦ vīnī: an amphora ¦ of wine
- frūmentum > ager ¦ frūmentī: a field ¦ of grain (corn)
- nummus > sacculus ¦ nummōrum: a bag ¦ of coins
- ūva > corbula ¦ ūvārum: a basket ¦ of grapes
- stēlla > multitūdō ¦ stēllārum: a multitude ¦ of stars
- oppidum > magnus numerus ¦ oppidōrum: a large number ¦ of towns
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