Skip to main content
Back to path

Welcome to a Grasp lesson

Create a free account to keep studying and create your own study path.

Lesson 31

Expressing Opinions with "finden" and Adjectives

Recommended resources

Hallo! In our last lesson, we focused on connecting sentences with the essential conjunctions und, oder, and aber. This gave you the ability to link your thoughts, which is a crucial step towards more fluid conversation.

Today, we will expand your toolkit for expressing opinions. You already know how to state likes and dislikes with verbs like mögen and gefallen. Now, we'll learn a very common and nuanced way to share your judgment or assessment of something using the verb finden. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to form sentences like, "I find the video game interesting" (Ich finde das Videospiel interessant), adding another layer of sophistication to your German.

1. The Verb finden: More Than Just Finding

The verb finden literally means "to find," as in locating a lost object. However, it is just as frequently used to express an opinion or judgment, much like when we say "I find that..." in English. It's a fantastic way to talk about your impressions of a movie, a book, a game, or even a dental procedure.

The sentence structure is very straightforward:

Subject + finden (conjugated) + Object (in Accusative) + Adjective

For this to work, you first need to know how to conjugate finden in the present tense. It's a strong verb, but the vowel changes happen in the past tense, which we'll cover later. For now, notice the extra -e- added in the du and er/sie/es forms, which makes pronunciation easier.

Finden Conjugation: Present, Past Tenses | StudySmarter

This page from StudySmarter provides a clear conjugation table for finden.

Focus on the table under the heading Present Tense Finden Conjugation Examples. This table shows you all the present tense forms you'll need. Notice the example sentence provided: Wir finden den Film interessant. This is the exact structure we are learning today.

So, the full conjugation is:

  • ich finde
  • du findest
  • er/sie/es findet
  • wir finden
  • ihr findet
  • sie/Sie finden

2. Expressing Your Opinion with finden

Now let's use this structure. You combine the conjugated verb with an object and an adjective that describes your opinion of that object.

For a quick and clear introduction to how this sounds in practice, watch the following short clip.

Mastering German Opinions🔥Expressions & Phrases for Fluent Conversations | German Language Tutorial

This video from German Lessons with Herr Ferguson gets straight to the point.

Watch the section from the beginning of the explanation to see how Ich finde is used to form basic opinion statements.

As you saw, it's quite direct. Let's look at some examples related to your interests:

  • Ich finde das Videospiel spannend. (I find the video game exciting.)
  • Findest du den Vlog lustig? (Do you find the vlog funny?)
  • Mein Professor findet meine Arbeit gut. (My professor finds my work good.)

Remember that the object of your opinion will be in the accusative case. You've learned this before, but it's a good moment to refresh:

  • der becomes den (masculine)
  • die stays die (feminine)
  • das stays das (neuter)
  • die stays die (plural)

Example: Ich finde **den** neuen Controller teuer. (I find the new controller expensive.) Here, der Controller (masculine) becomes den Controller in the accusative.

3. Positive and Negative Opinions

You can use this structure to express both positive and negative views, simply by changing the adjective. The following video provides a nice demonstration with a short dialogue.

A1 - Lesson 52 | Gefallen und Missfallen ausdrücken | Express likes & dislikes l Learn German

This video from the "Learn German" channel shows how to express both likes and dislikes using this pattern.

Watch the section on expressing positive opinions, where adverbs like total (totally) are added. Then, watch the sample dialogue to see it in a conversational context. Finally, see how to form negative opinions with adjectives like schlecht (bad).

To express your opinion, you need a good collection of adjectives. Below is a fantastic resource with 50 common German adjectives. You don't need to memorize them all right now, but it's a great list to bookmark.

The 50 Most Common German Adjectives - Strømmen Language Classes

This list from Strømmen Language Classes will be your best friend for expressing detailed opinions.

Take a look at the table under the heading List of 50 Common German Adjectives. Try to identify pairs of opposites that would be useful for you, such as: interessant / langweilig (interesting / boring) - for vlogs, lectures einfach / kompliziert (easy / complicated) - for video games, dental techniques teuer / billig (expensive / cheap) - for technology, fashion lustig / traurig (funny / sad) - for media content

4. Practice and Integration

Now, let's combine what you learned today with the conjunctions from our last lesson. This is how you start building more complex, natural-sounding sentences.

  • Ich mag Strategiespiele, **aber** ich finde dieses Spiel zu **kompliziert**.
    (I like strategy games, but I find this game too complicated.)
  • Du siehst dir gern Vlogs an, **und** du findest diesen Vlogger sehr **lustig**.
    (You like watching vlogs, and you find this vlogger very funny.)
  • Wir können das alte Spiel spielen, **oder** wir probieren das neue, aber ich finde es **teuer**.
    (We can play the old game, or we try the new one, but I find it expensive.)

Try to form a few sentences on your own. How would you express these ideas in German?

  1. I find German grammar interesting.
  2. She finds the new fashion trend beautiful.
  3. They like the video, but they find it too long (lang).

(Scroll down to see some possible answers)

.
.
.

Possible Answers:

  1. Ich finde die deutsche Grammatik interessant.
  2. Sie findet den neuen Modetrend schön.
  3. Sie mögen das Video, aber sie finden es zu lang.

Conclusion

Excellent work! You've now mastered another essential method for sharing your thoughts in German. The finden + adjective structure is incredibly versatile and will allow you to give your opinion on almost anything you encounter in your academic and social life in Germany or Austria.

Key Takeaways:

  • Finden for Opinions: Use finden to express a judgment or assessment, like "I find that...".
  • Sentence Structure: The pattern is Subject + finden (conjugated) + Accusative Object + Adjective.
  • Accusative Case: The thing you have an opinion on is the direct object and must be in the accusative case.
  • Adjectives are Key: Your descriptive range depends on your vocabulary of adjectives. Keep the list from today handy!

In our next and final lesson for this module, you'll get to put everything together. The goal will be to describe a favorite video game or vlog in several connected sentences, using hobbies vocabulary, expressions of likes/dislikes, conjunctions, and the finden structure you learned today.

Bis bald