Breakdown of Ihre Einschätzung war genau so richtig, wie wir dachten.
sein
to be
richtig
right
wir
we
Ihr
your (formal)
denken
to think
genau
exactly / precise, exact
so
so, such (intensifier)
wie
as (in comparisons)
die Einschätzung
the assessment
Questions & Answers about Ihre Einschätzung war genau so richtig, wie wir dachten.
Why is there a comma before 'wie'? I thought comparisons didn't need commas.
You don't need a comma if wie just compares two noun phrases without a new verb (e.g., so richtig wie deine - "as correct as yours"). However, in this sentence, wie introduces a full subordinate clause with its own conjugated verb at the end (dachten). Whenever a comparison introduces a full clause like this, German requires a comma.
Should 'genau so' be written as one word ('genauso') or two words here?
Writing it as two words (genau so ... wie) is strictly correct here because genau acts as an intensifier for the comparative phrase so richtig ("exactly as correct"). The single word genauso means "equally" or "the same way" and is mostly used when it stands alone without an adjective in between (e.g., Wir dachten genauso - "We thought the same way").
'Ihre' is capitalized here. Does that always mean it translates to formal 'Your'?
Yes! When written with a capital I, Ihr / Ihre always belongs to the formal Sie (meaning "Your assessment" here). If it were lowercase (ihre), depending on the context, the sentence would translate to "her assessment" or "their assessment."
Why does the sentence use the simple past ('war', 'dachten') instead of the spoken perfect tense?
While spoken German heavily favors the perfect tense for most verbs, verbs of state, thought, and feeling (like sein, haben, wissen, and denken) are a major exception. They are commonly used in the simple past (Präteritum) even in everyday conversation. It sounds much more natural to a German speaker than saying Ihre Einschätzung ist genau so richtig gewesen, wie wir gedacht haben.
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