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How would "I agree that..." be best translated? I've found all the following versions:

  1. Ich stimme dem zu, dass ...
  2. Ich stimme dazu, dass ...
  3. Ich stimme zu, dass ...

Is one of them better? Are all three correct? Are there differences in meaning?

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  • 2
    The first example puts a slight emphasis on the statement that is going to follow. It can be used if you agree only partially: "Ich stimme dem zu, dass ... , aber ..." – dervonnebenaan Jun 2 '14 at 21:33
  • @dervonnebenaan: Rather "Ich stimme insoweit zu, dass ..., aber ..."? – Raphael Jun 3 '14 at 6:56
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    @Raphael: insoweit, als, nicht insoweit, dass. :-) duden.de/rechtschreibung/insoweit_insofern_Adverb – Thorsten Dittmar Jun 3 '14 at 10:00
  • @ThorstenDittmar Okay? I seem to have ", dass" and also ", als dass" floating around but I couldn't tell you from where (and when). – Raphael Jun 3 '14 at 10:19
  • Colliquially, "[ Ich wuerde sagen ] Sie haben recht ..." ("[ I'd say ] you're right that ...") would be much more common to express agreement in a conversation. – FrankH. Jun 3 '14 at 17:50
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How does the sentence continue?

With a relative clause?

Ich stimme dem zu, was du gesagt hast.

Or with a point?

Ich stimme [dir] zu, dass das eine doofe Idee war.
Ich stimme [dir] zu: Das war eine doofe Idee.

Combining both, e.g.

Ich stimme dem zu, dass das eine doofe Idee war.

In writing, I'm tempted to use ; or . instead of ,.

would be okay-ish in spoken, colloquial German as shorter form of

Ich stimme dem zu, was X gesagt hat, nämlich dass das eine doofe Idee war.

but I would never use it in writing.

If there is no "point of reference". i.e. you make an "original" statement, you should never use "dem" here.

"dazu" does not make any sense here.

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4

2 is wrong since it would re-translate to something like agreeing and adding to something at the same time.

Both 1 and 3 are correct direct translations (1 is a bit more formular). However, "I agree that ..." could be more comfortably translated to "Ich teile die Meinung, dass ..." or "... stimme ich zu."

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  • 3
    "Ich teile die Meinung, dass..." would rather be a translation of "I share the opinion..." – dervonnebenaan Jun 2 '14 at 21:31
2

While all the other answers sound correct to me, I'd like to add an alternative, as Ich stimme zu, dass... sounds pretty formal. Less formal translations could be

Ich bin auch der Meinung, dass ...
Ich denke auch, dass ...
Ich finde auch, dass ...

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  • 1
    These can certainly be used in formal settings. – Raphael Jun 3 '14 at 9:06

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