Today's words · 💭 Giving opinions
Speak your mind: 10 German words for opinions
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In Germany you'll be asked ‘What do you think?’ far more often than you might expect.
In a work meeting my manager suddenly turned to me: ‘Was meinst du dazu?’ I had an opinion, but no idea how to start the sentence, so I said ‘Erm… gut?’ and that was it. I replayed that moment all evening.
Today's ten little words are for giving your opinion, agreeing and disagreeing. With them you can say what you think clearly — in meetings and over coffee with friends. 💬
📋 The ten words at a glance
- die Meinung — opinion
- meinen — to think, to believe; to mean
- finden — to find; to think, consider
- glauben — to believe; to think
- meiner Meinung nach — in my opinion
- einverstanden — in agreement, agreed
- recht haben — to be right
- stimmen — to be right, to be correct; to vote
- zustimmen — to agree (with) (+ dat.)
- dagegen — against it; into it; on the other hand
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
die Meinung
[MY-noong]opinion(Pl. die Meinungen)
📌 Meiner Meinung nach ist das eine gute Idee.
→ In my opinion that's a good idea.
💡 meinen (to think) + -ung = what you think 💭 -ung, so die Meinung!
Bonus Ich bin anderer Meinung. = I see it differently.
meinen
[MY-nen]to think, to believe; to mean(meint – hat gemeint)
📌 Was meinst du dazu?
→ What do you think about it?
💡 Same root as English mean 🤔 It means both ‘to think’ and ‘to mean’.
Bonus Was meinst du? = What do you think? · So habe ich das nicht gemeint. = That's not what I meant.
finden
[FIN-den]to find; to think, consider(findet – hat gefunden)
📌 Wie findest du das Buch?
→ What do you think of the book?
💡 Just like English find 🔍 And like English, you can ‘find’ something good or bad.
Bonus Wie findest du das? = What do you think of it? · Ich finde das super!
glauben
[GLOW-ben]to believe; to think(glaubt – hat geglaubt)
📌 Ich glaube, es regnet morgen.
→ I think it'll rain tomorrow.
💡 The ‘lieve’ in English believe is a cousin of glauben 🙏
Bonus Believing a person takes the dative: Ich glaube dir. · believe in = an + acc.
meiner Meinung nach
[MY-ner MY-noong nahkh]in my opinion📌 Meiner Meinung nach ist das Wetter heute zu schlecht für einen Ausflug.
→ In my opinion the weather today is too bad for an outing.
💡 Here nach comes at the end 🔚 ‘According to my opinion’.
⚠ The verb comes straight after: Meiner Meinung nach ist das falsch.
einverstanden
[INE-fair-shtahn-den]in agreement, agreed(= einverstanden sein)
📌 Bist du damit einverstanden?
→ Do you agree with that?
💡 ein (one) + verstanden (understood) = understood as one 🤝 German for OK, deal!
Bonus agree with something = mit + dat.: Ich bin damit einverstanden.
recht haben
[REKHT hah-ben]to be right(hat recht – hatte recht)
📌 Du hast recht, es ist zu spät.
→ You're right, it's too late.
💡 German says you ‘have right’ ✅ Du hast recht!
⚠ haben, not sein! Du bist recht (wrong) → Du hast recht (right)
stimmen
[SHTIM-en]to be right, to be correct; to vote(stimmt – hat gestimmt)
📌 Das stimmt!
→ That's right!
💡 From die Stimme (voice, vote) 🗳️ To agree in one word: Stimmt!
Bonus When paying, Stimmt so! = Keep the change.
zustimmen
[TSOO-shtim-en]to agree (with) (+ dat.)(stimmt zu – hat zugestimmt)
📌 Da stimme ich dir zu.
→ I agree with you on that.
💡 zu (towards) + stimmen = giving your vote to someone 👍
⚠ Separable and with the dative: Da stimme ich dir zu.
dagegen
[dah-GAY-gen]against it; into it; on the other hand📌 Hast du etwas dagegen?
→ Do you have any objection?
💡 da (that) + gegen (against) = against it 🙅♀️ In favour is dafür!
Bonus Hast du was dagegen? = Do you mind?
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
In Germany, sharing your own opinion in meetings, classes and conversations is valued. Staying quiet can be taken as agreement, so even a short Meiner Meinung nach… helps.
There's a fun word for when you're torn: ‘Jein’, a mix of ja and nein. It means ‘yes and no’, and you'll hear it all the time.
When you disagree, giving a reason — ‘Das sehe ich anders, aber…’ — keeps things friendly. Many Germans genuinely enjoy a good Diskussion. 🗣️
✅ Quick quiz
Q. A friend asks: ‘Cinema on Friday at eight?’ You say yes.
- ① Hast du etwas dagegen?
- ② Ja, einverstanden!
- ③ Meiner Meinung nach nicht.
Show the answer
② Ja, einverstanden!
einverstanden means agreed — it's how you accept a suggestion.
Pick anything today and give your opinion on it in German. Ich finde, Pocket German ist super! is a great place to start. 😉
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 👀 Body idioms