Usage notes

• The form could originally refer to any masculine or neuter singular noun. However, it is now restricted to inanimate nouns of these two genders (and neuters more often than masculines). The corresponding feminine and plural form is welker, which is even rarer than welks.
• The forms wiens m or n and wier f or pl can refer to both animate and inanimate nouns. They are more frequent and, while also formal, have a less elevated tone than welks, welker. Especially when referring to inanimates, contemporary Dutch prefers to avoid genitive pronouns altogether and use constructions with van instead. However, these can sometimes be awkward, e.g. when another preposition intervenes. In such cases genitive pronouns are still fairly common in written Dutch: het huis op welks/wiens dak een duif zit (“the house on whose roof a dove is sitting”).

Declension