Breakdown of Das ist nur meine persönliche Meinung.
sein
to be
mein
my
nur
only
die Meinung
the opinion
persönlich
personal, in person
Questions & Answers about Das ist nur meine persönliche Meinung.
How is the adjective persönlich built from the noun Person?
It is formed by adding the suffix -lich, which is very common for turning nouns into adjectives. Notice the vowel shift: the o in Person takes an umlaut to become ö in persönlich. The final -e on persönliche in this sentence is just the grammatical adjective ending.
Why does the adjective have an -e at the end (persönliche)?
It has to agree with the feminine noun it describes, Meinung (opinion). Because the sentence is in the nominative case (it's a statement using the verb sein) and comes after the possessive word meine, the adjective takes the mixed declension ending -e.
Why does the sentence start with the neutral Das, if the noun it points to (Meinung) is feminine?
When you use the verb sein (to be) to introduce or point something out, you always use the fixed neutral pronoun das (meaning "that" or "this"). You use it regardless of the gender or number of the noun that follows. You are essentially saying "That [general thing] is my opinion."
Could I use erst instead of nur here for "only"?
No, because nur and erst mean different things. nur means "only" in the sense of "just" or "nothing more than" (just a personal opinion). erst means "only" in relation to time or sequences (like "it is only 3 o'clock" or "he is only 10 years old").
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