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Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.
I find his opinion honest and respectful.

Breakdown of Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

und
and
ich
I
finden
to find
sein
his
die Meinung
the opinion
respektvoll
respectful
ehrlich
honest
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Questions & Answers about Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

Why is finden used here, and does it mean “to find” or “to think”?

In this sentence finden does not mean “to find” in the physical sense (like “to find your keys”).

Here finden is used in its evaluative meaning: “to think / to consider / to find (something) to be …”

Pattern:

  • Ich finde X schön / gut / langweilig.
    • I think / I find X beautiful / good / boring.

So in Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll, the verb finden means:

  • I consider his opinion to be honest and respectful.
  • I think his opinion is honest and respectful.
Why is there no ist in the sentence? Why not Ich finde, dass seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll ist?

Both structures are possible, but they are different grammatically:

  1. Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

    • Structure: finden + direct object (Akkusativ) + predicate adjectives
    • seine Meinung is the direct object, and ehrlich und respektvoll are adjectives describing that object.
    • Literally: I find his opinion honest and respectful.

  2. Ich finde, dass seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll ist.

    • Structure: finden + subordinate clause with dass
    • Literally: I think that his opinion is honest and respectful.

In everyday speech and writing, version 1 (without ist) is very common and a bit shorter and more direct. It’s a standard, fully correct structure in German.

What case is seine Meinung, and why?

Seine Meinung is in the accusative case.

  • The verb finden in this meaning takes a direct object in the accusative.
  • To find/consider what? → seine Meinung.

So the structure is:

  • Ich (subject, nominative)
  • finde (verb)
  • seine Meinung (direct object, accusative)
  • ehrlich und respektvoll (predicative adjectives describing the object)
Why is it seine Meinung and not sein Meinung, seiner Meinung, or seinen Meinung?

The form of sein- (his) has to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies: Meinung.

  • Meinung is:
    • feminine (die Meinung)
    • singular
    • accusative (direct object of finden)

Possessive endings for sein-:

  • Feminine singular:
    • Nominative: seine
    • Accusative: seine

So for eine Meinung in the accusative, you get seine Meinung.

  • sein Meinung – incorrect (no feminine ending)
  • seiner Meinung – would be dative or genitive feminine; not correct here
  • seinen Meinung – wrong gender/ending (looks like masculine accusative or dative plural)
How do we know that Meinung is feminine?

You normally learn the gender with the noun: die Meinung.

Clues:

  • Many nouns ending in -ung are feminine:
    • die Zeitung (newspaper)
    • die Wohnung (apartment)
    • die Rechnung (bill)
    • die Meinung (opinion)

Dictionaries usually show it as die Meinung, -en. That die tells you it’s feminine.

Could I say Ich denke, seine Meinung ist ehrlich und respektvoll instead?

You would normally say:

  • Ich denke, dass seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll ist.

Points to note:

  1. denken usually introduces a full clause with dass when you express a thought about something:

    • Ich denke, dass er recht hat.
    • Ich denke, dass sie kommt.

  2. In spoken German, many people drop dass, especially with denken, glauben, finden:

    • Ich denke, seine Meinung ist ehrlich und respektvoll.
      This is common in conversation but a bit more informal and less “textbook”.

  3. Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll is a bit smoother and more idiomatic for giving an evaluation of something.
    Ich denke, dass … focuses more on the thought itself. Both are correct, but the nuance is slightly different.

What exactly do ehrlich and respektvoll describe here: the opinion, or how he expresses it?

Grammatically, ehrlich and respektvoll describe seine Meinung.

Semantically, though, an “honest and respectful opinion” usually refers to:

  • the way the opinion is held and expressed:
    • He is being honest (not lying, not manipulating).
    • He is being respectful (polite, considerate of others).

So while the grammar links the adjectives to die Meinung, in real communication this sentence is mostly praising how he expresses his opinion, not its factual content.

Why are ehrlich und respektvoll at the end of the sentence? Could they go somewhere else?

The order subject – verb – object – description is normal for German main clauses:

  • Ich (subject)
  • finde (verb)
  • seine Meinung (object)
  • ehrlich und respektvoll (predicative adjectives)

German likes to put descriptive elements (adjectives, adverbs, longer phrases) towards the end, especially when they comment on or describe what comes before.

You cannot move these adjectives in front of finde in this structure:

  • ✗ Ich ehrlich und respektvoll finde seine Meinung. (wrong)

You can turn them into attributive adjectives in front of the noun, but the meaning shifts:

  • Ich finde seine ehrliche und respektvolle Meinung gut.
    • Now ehrliche und respektvolle are part of the noun phrase seine ehrliche und respektvolle Meinung, and you are evaluating that as gut.
    • This sounds a bit more complex and slightly different in focus.
Can I drop ich and just say Finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll?

In standard written and spoken German, you should keep the subject:

  • Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

Dropping ich like:

  • Finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

is something you might see or hear:

  • in very informal chats, text messages, or notes
  • when the subject is already very clear from context

But grammatically it’s incomplete; German usually requires an explicit subject (unlike some other languages). For learning and in any formal context: keep the ich.

How would the sentence change if the opinion belonged to a woman, or to several people?

The gender/number of the owner changes the possessive word, but Meinung stays the same (still feminine accusative).

  1. His opinion (male owner)

    • Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.

  2. Her opinion (female owner)

    • Ich finde ihre Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.
      Here ihr- is the possessive stem for “her”. Feminine accusative → ihre Meinung.

  3. Their opinion (several people)

    • Also Ich finde ihre Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.
      Context decides whether ihre means “her” or “their”.

  4. Your (formal) opinion (Sie)

    • Ich finde Ihre Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.
      Capital I in Ihre shows it is formal “your”.
Does this sentence mean that I agree with his opinion?

Not necessarily.

Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll says something about:

  • how he expresses his opinion (honestly and respectfully)

It does not automatically say whether you:

  • agree with his content
  • share his viewpoint

You could fully disagree with him but still say this to acknowledge his tone and attitude:

  • I don’t agree with him, but I find his opinion honest and respectful.
    → Ich stimme seiner Meinung nicht zu, aber ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.
Could I also say Ich halte seine Meinung für ehrlich und respektvoll? Is that similar?

Yes, that is another correct and idiomatic way to say almost the same thing.

Structure:

  • jemanden / etwas für + Adjektiv halten
    • to consider someone/something (to be) + adjective

Example:

  • Ich halte seine Meinung für ehrlich und respektvoll.
    • I consider his opinion honest and respectful.

Nuance:

  • Ich finde … is very common and slightly more casual/neutral.
  • Ich halte … für … can sound a tiny bit more formal or deliberate, as if you are making a conscious judgment. Both are good to know.
Why is the verb form finde and not findet or finden?

finden is the infinitive (dictionary form). It’s a regular verb with a vowel change only in past tense (fand).

Present tense forms:

  • ich finde – I find
  • du findest – you find (singular, informal)
  • er / sie / es findet – he / she / it finds
  • wir finden – we find
  • ihr findet – you find (plural, informal)
  • sie finden – they find
  • Sie finden – you find (formal)

In the sentence, the subject is ich, so the correct form is finde:

  • Ich finde seine Meinung ehrlich und respektvoll.