# Question regarding German **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130 "2019-10-22T12:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/1 "2019-10-22T12:32:36Z")
Hi How can I formulate “My father’s friend’s son” der Sohn des Freundes meines Vaters or “mein Vaters Freunds Sohn”(??) I look forward to your feedback ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/2 "2019-10-22T12:56:31Z")
der Sohn meines Vaters Freund ---
**Author:** ![DerNils](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerNils](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerNils)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/3 "2019-10-22T13:15:24Z")
You had it right the first time: “Der Sohn des Freundes meines Vaters”. Technically correct but not used because it sounds weird would be “Meines Vaters Freundes Sohn.” MrDibble, I am afraid your suggestion is maybe possible following the strict rules, but no German would ever say it either, because it would be too hard to put the inflection clear enough to distinguish between “my fathers son” and “my fathers friends son”. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/4 "2019-10-22T20:36:29Z")
> [@DerNils](#): > > You had it right the first time: “Der Sohn des Freundes meines Vaters”. > Technically correct but not used because it sounds weird would be “Meines Vaters Freundes Sohn.” > > MrDibble, I am afraid your suggestion is maybe possible following the strict rules, but no German would ever say it either, because it would be too hard to put the inflection clear enough to distinguish between “my fathers son” and “my fathers friends son”. I wonder how a conversation would go with that mouthful. Germans would probably break it up into something like: Wer ist denn das in Foto? Das da ist der Sohn des Freundes meines Vaters or "Du kennst ja mein Vaters Freund…Das ist der/sein Sohn/Das ist der Sohn von meinem Vaters Freund ---
**Author:** ![Remember\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Remember\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remember_me)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/5 "2019-10-23T10:03:22Z")
I believe in a casual conversation I would rather use a construction that avoids the usage of a double genitive: “Das ist der Sohn von einem Freund meines Vaters” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/6 "2019-10-23T12:00:39Z")
I was expecting German to have a way of making a single, long compound word for it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/7 "2019-10-23T14:39:35Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > I wonder how a conversation would go with that mouthful. Germans would probably break it up into something like: > > Wer ist denn das in Foto? > Das da ist der Sohn des Freundes meines Vaters or "Du kennst ja mein Vaters Freund…Das ist der/sein Sohn/Das ist der Sohn von meinem Vaters Freund I have to nitpick here, but you’re willing to learn the language correctly, so I think nitpicking is ok: \*Wer ist denn das in Foto? \* is slightly wrong because of a missing article, in this case the dative: _Wer ist denn das in dem Foto?_ or with the contraction of in + dem: \*Wer ist denn das im Foto? \* _Du kennst ja mein Vaters Freund_ is the genetive, so it should be _Du kennst ja meines Vaters Freund._ _Das ist der Sohn von meinem Vaters Freund_ is just plain wrong on more than one level. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-german/842130/8 "2019-10-23T15:39:29Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I have to nitpick here, but you’re willing to learn the language correctly, so I think nitpicking is ok: > \*Wer ist denn das in Foto? \* > > is slightly wrong because of a missing article, in this case the dative: > > _Wer ist denn das in dem Foto?_ or with the contraction of in + dem: \*Wer ist denn das im Foto? > \* > _Du kennst ja mein Vaters Freund_ > > is the genetive, so it should be > > _Du kennst ja meines Vaters Freund._ > > _Das ist der Sohn von meinem Vaters Freund_ is just plain wrong on more than one level. Thanks EinsteinsHund. Very helpful. Thank you all.