Breakdown of Meiner Meinung nach war der Kurier zu langsam.
sein
to be
langsam
slow, slowly
zu
too (e.g., too big)
meiner Meinung nach
in my opinion
der Kurier
the courier
Questions & Answers about Meiner Meinung nach war der Kurier zu langsam.
Why is nach placed after Meiner Meinung rather than before it?
In this specific expression, nach acts as a postposition, meaning it comes after the noun. While you can technically say nach meiner Meinung, placing it at the end as meiner Meinung nach is the standard and most natural way to express "in my opinion" in German.
What case is Meiner Meinung in, and why?
It is in the dative case. The word nach always requires the dative case, even when it is used as a postposition. Since Meinung is a feminine noun, the possessive pronoun takes the feminine dative ending -er, making it meiner.
Why is there no comma after Meiner Meinung nach, and why does the verb war come next?
German strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule in main clauses. The entire phrase Meiner Meinung nach takes up the first position. To keep the conjugated verb in the second position, war must follow immediately, pushing the subject der Kurier to position three. Unlike in English, you do not use a comma to separate this introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence.
Could I translate "in my opinion" more literally and use the preposition in?
No, saying in meiner Meinung is incorrect in German. You must use nach (which translates closer to "according to my opinion"). If you want to use different phrasing, you could say Ich bin der Meinung, dass... (I am of the opinion that...) or simply Ich finde, dass... (I find that...).
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