Questions & Answers about Ehrlich gesagt finde ich das nicht gut.
Why is the verb finde right after Ehrlich gesagt?
Just like meiner Meinung nach, the phrase Ehrlich gesagt (honestly / honestly spoken) acts as a single building block occupying the first position in the sentence. In German, the conjugated verb must always come second. Therefore, the verb finde comes immediately after it, pushing the subject ich to the third position.
Why does this use gesagt? Doesn't that mean 'said'?
Yes, gesagt is the past participle of sagen (to say). The literal translation of Ehrlich gesagt is 'honestly said' or 'honestly spoken'. In English, you usually just say 'Honestly' or 'To be honest'.
Why use finde here instead of denke like in the English translation?
In German, finden (to find) is the most common and natural way to express a personal opinion or judgment about something, much like saying 'I find that...' in English. While you could use denken (to think), it usually requires a slightly more complex sentence structure with dass (that), like: Ehrlich gesagt denke ich, dass das nicht gut ist.
Why is nicht placed right before gut?
When you want to negate a specific adjective or quality, nicht usually goes directly before it. Here, you are specifically negating gut (good), so nicht sits right in front of it to say 'not good'.