Breakdown of Gefühlsmäßig bin ich gegen diesen Plan.
ich
I
sein
to be
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
gegen
against
Questions & Answers about Gefühlsmäßig bin ich gegen diesen Plan.
How exactly does the suffix -mäßig change the meaning of Gefühl here?
The suffix -mäßig is added to nouns to mean "in terms of," "regarding," or "-wise." Here, Gefühl means "feeling," so gefühlsmäßig literally translates to "feeling-wise" or "in terms of feelings." In natural English, it is often translated as "intuitively" or "emotionally."
Why is there an 's' in the middle of gefühlsmäßig?
That is a linking 's' (known as a Fugen-s). When combining words or adding certain suffixes like -mäßig to a noun, German often inserts a linking letter to make the pronunciation smoother. While you will eventually develop an ear for it, you will frequently see this linking 's' before -mäßig.
Why does gefühlsmäßig not have an adjective ending like -es or -er here?
Although the suffix -mäßig creates an adjective, in this sentence it is functioning as an adverb because it modifies the entire statement, describing the speaker's overall stance toward the plan. In German, adverbs and predicate adjectives never take endings.
As a quick refresher, why do we use diesen Plan instead of dieser Plan?
The preposition gegen (against) always requires the accusative case. Because Plan is a masculine noun (der Plan), the demonstrative word dieser must change to its masculine accusative form, diesen.