Word
Meines Wissens war die Auswanderung ein Neuanfang.
Meaning
To my knowledge, the emigration was a new beginning.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Meines Wissens war die Auswanderung ein Neuanfang.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
mein
my
das Wissen
the knowledge
Questions & Answers about Meines Wissens war die Auswanderung ein Neuanfang.
Why is it meines Wissens instead of using a preposition to mean "to my knowledge"?
Meines Wissens is an adverbial genitive. In German, certain fixed phrases use the genitive case without a preposition to express manner, time, or viewpoint. It acts as a set phrase meaning "to my knowledge" or "as far as I know." You will also often see meines Erachtens, which means "in my opinion."
Why does the verb war come immediately after meines Wissens?
Because meines Wissens acts as a single adverbial block taking up the first position in the sentence. German strictly enforces the V2 rule, meaning the conjugated verb (war) must be in the second position, which forces the subject (die Auswanderung) into the third position.
Why is it ein Neuanfang in the nominative case rather than the accusative einen Neuanfang?
The verb sein (used here in the past tense as war) is a linking verb. It equates the subject with the predicate. Because it doesn't represent an action happening to an object, the noun following it (ein Neuanfang) stays in the nominative case to match the subject (die Auswanderung).
How does the prefix in Auswanderung affect its meaning compared to similar words?