Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.

I find this animal friendly.

Breakdown of Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.

• ich: I
• finden: to find
• freundlich: friendly
• dieses: this
• das Tier: the animal

Questions & Answers about Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.

What exactly does finde mean in this sentence, and how is it different from the basic meaning to find?

In Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich, finde (from finden) does not mean physically finding something. It means:

• to consider / to think (that something is …)

So the sentence means:
“I think this animal is friendly.” or “I find this animal friendly.”

German finden is often used for opinions:

• Ich finde den Film gut. – I think the film is good.
• Wie findest du das Essen? – What do you think of the food?

The physical sense to find is also finden, but the context is different:

• Ich finde meinen Schlüssel nicht. – I can’t find my key.

Why is it dieses Tier and not something like diese Tier or dieser Tier?

Dieses is the correct accusative singular form of the demonstrative dies- for a neuter noun.

• Tier is neuter: das Tier.
• In the accusative singular neuter, dies- takes the ending -es → dieses.

So:

• Nominative:
  
  • dieses Tier – this animal (as subject)
• Accusative:
  
  • Ich sehe dieses Tier. – I see this animal.

Diese Tier or dieser Tier are grammatically wrong in standard German.

Why is Tier capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of their position in the sentence.

• Tier is a noun, so it must be written Tier, not tier.
• This rule applies to every noun: Haus, Freundlichkeit, Kind, Auto, etc.

Even when used in the middle of a sentence, nouns stay capitalized:

• Ich mag dieses Tier.
• Das ist ein schönes Haus.

Why is it freundlich and not freundliches? Shouldn’t adjectives get endings in German?

German adjectives get endings only when they come directly before a noun.

• Attributive adjective (before noun):
  
  • ein freundliches Tier – a friendly animal
  • dieses freundliche Tier – this friendly animal

In this sentence, freundlich comes after the noun and acts as a predicate adjective (a complement to the verb finden). Predicate adjectives do not take endings:

• Das Tier ist freundlich. – The animal is friendly.
• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich. – I think this animal is friendly.

So freundlich (no ending) is correct here.

Is Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich more like I find this animal friendly or I think this animal is friendly?

Both translations are possible, but in natural English, “I think this animal is friendly” is usually better.

• The structure Ich finde [Objekt] [Adjektiv] =
  I think [object] is [adjective], expressing your opinion.

So:

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.
  → I think this animal is friendly.
  (or a bit more literal: I find this animal friendly.)

What is the grammatical role of dieses Tier in this sentence?

Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.

• Ich – subject (nominative)
• finde – verb (1st person singular of finden)
• dieses Tier – direct object (accusative)
• freundlich – predicate adjective (describes the object)

So dieses Tier is in the accusative case as the direct object of finden.

Can I also say Ich finde, dieses Tier ist freundlich? Is that correct, and is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Ich finde, dieses Tier ist freundlich.

This literally means:

• “I think this animal is friendly.”

Differences:

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.

  • More compact, very natural, especially in spoken German.

• Ich finde, dieses Tier ist freundlich.

  • Slightly more explicit structure: Ich finde, …
    • a full clause.
  • Also correct and common, especially when you emphasize your opinion.

Both are fine; the first is a bit shorter and smoother.

How would I negate this sentence? Where does nicht go?

To say “I don’t find this animal friendly”, you put nicht before freundlich:

• Ich finde dieses Tier nicht freundlich.

This means you think the animal is not friendly.

If you wanted to negate the entire opinion more vaguely, you could say:

• Ich finde nicht, dass dieses Tier freundlich ist.
  – I don’t think that this animal is friendly.

Could I say Dieses Tier finde ich freundlich? Is the word order still correct?

Yes, Dieses Tier finde ich freundlich is grammatically correct.

German allows you to move elements to the beginning for emphasis, as long as the conjugated verb stays in second position:

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich. – neutral word order
• Dieses Tier finde ich freundlich. – emphasizes this animal

Both mean the same thing; the second version just highlights dieses Tier more.

What is the difference between Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich and Ich mag dieses Tier?

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.

  • You express an opinion about a quality of the animal: it seems friendly.

• Ich mag dieses Tier.

  • You express personal liking / affection: you like this animal.

They can overlap (you might like it because it’s friendly), but grammatically and semantically they are different:

• finden + Adjektiv → opinion: I think it is X.
• mögen → personal liking: I like it.

Why is it dieses Tier in the singular? How would I say it in the plural?

The given sentence is singular:

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich. – I think this animal is friendly.

For plural:

• Ich finde diese Tiere freundlich. – I think these animals are friendly.

Changes:

• dieses → diese (plural form)
• Tier → Tiere (plural noun)
• freundlich stays the same (predicate adjectives don’t change).

What is the gender of Tier, and how do I know it?

Tier has grammatical gender neuter:

• das Tier – the animal
• ein Tier – an animal
• dieses Tier – this animal

Unfortunately, German gender is mostly something you must learn with each noun. There are some patterns, but Tier is simply one you have to memorize as neuter.

Always learn nouns with their articles:

• das Tier (neuter)
• der Hund (masculine)
• die Katze (feminine)

How is dieses and Tier pronounced, especially the ie?

Pronunciation (approximate IPA):

• dieses – [ˈdiːzəs]

  • ie → a long “ee” sound, like in English “see”.
  • Sounds like “DEE-zes”.

• Tier – [tiːɐ̯]

  • Again, ie = long i sound: “teer”, with a slight r at the end.

So the whole sentence:

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich.
  → [ɪç ˈfɪndə ˈdiːzəs tiːɐ̯ ˈfʁɔʏntlɪç] (approx.)

What is the difference between dieses Tier and dieses hier?

• dieses Tier – this animal (with a noun).
• dieses hier – literally “this one here”, more conversational, with added emphasis on here and the specific one you are indicating.

Examples:

• Ich finde dieses Tier freundlich. – I think this animal is friendly.
• (Pointing at an animal among several)
  Ich finde dieses hier freundlich. – I think this one here is friendly.

In the second sentence, the noun is understood from context, so hier helps you point more clearly.