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I 'm about to complete B1 (Yay!) and Goethe Institut has changed the examination pattern from this year on. We're supposed to write a Stellungnahme in Teil schreiben and I wish to write my answer in a form that gives a good impression to the examiner, using words that a B1 candidate should be able to use.

For example, take this title "Ist unsere Gesellschaft kinderfeindlich?". Ideally I would start like this "Ich glaube das ist richtig" or "Ich halte das für richtig". I would however like to begin the phrase "Meiner Meinung nach diese Thema", but I am not sure about the construction.

Meiner Meinung nach diese Thema ist das Gesellschaft ist kinderfeindlich

(or)

Meine Meinung ist das Gesellschaft ist kinderfeindlich.

Am I right in both the cases? If yes, which one gives a good impression?

2 Answers 2

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You have to put the verb at the second possition. There are also a pair of grammar mistakes (Thema is neutral and Gesellschaft, feminine):

Meiner Meinung nach ist die Gesellschaft kinderfeindlich.

or

Meine Meinung über dieses Thema ist, dass die Gesellschaft kinderfeindlich ist.

To my taste, some context is missing: say, which society? in which country? You could try with this variant:

Meiner Meinung nach ist die Adjektiv zu bestimmtem Land Gesellschaft kinderfeindlich.

or

Ich bin der Meinung (or Ich bin der Ansicht), dass die Adjektiv zu bestimmtem Land Gesellschaft kinderfeindlich ist.

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    Oh, so "Meiner Meinung nach" is one phrase? what should come after nach?
    – thandasoru
    Aug 11, 2013 at 17:15
  • @thandasoru Well, is not a phrase it's a "feste Nomen-Präposition Verbindung", i.e. you associate to the Substantive Meinung the preposition nach. After nach it comes the verb, when you put "Meiner Meinung nach" as first element in your sentence. The whole group of words is the first element, and the verb should be right after that.
    – c.p.
    Aug 11, 2013 at 17:18
  • Okay, just to make sure I understood properly, I'll take another example. Q: Wie wichtig ist heute ein Hobby? A: Meiner Meinung nach ist heute ein Hobby nicht so wichtig. Am I correct?
    – thandasoru
    Aug 11, 2013 at 17:20
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    @thandasoru Yes, correct! I would use, however, not heute (which means precisely this day) but heutzutage or jetzt.
    – c.p.
    Aug 11, 2013 at 17:26
  • Ich glaube, man hat Meinungen zu Themen, nicht über Themen.
    – Carsten S
    Aug 12, 2013 at 12:05
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I want to add something that the other answer didn't focus on. What can be confusing for a student of German is the dangling nach. Usually nach is either a preposition followed by a noun-phrase

Ich komme um Viertel nach vier.

Ich gehe nach Hause.

Es riecht nach Fisch.

or an adverb that is part of the verb

Ich gucke etwas im Wörterbuch nach. – nachgucken

In the phrase in question however, nach is neither of the 2.

Meiner Meinung nach …

nach is a postposition here and the case it demands is the Genitive. Postpositions are rare in German but there are more …

Des Geldes wegen gehe ich arbeiten.

So instead of starting a block of speech as a preposition does this nach closes a block and thus the verb has to come after.

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    Wow, that's a great observation. It is true! I could not wrap my head around the usage because of this. You can see that my original sentence in the question is framed like the way you have explained. (nach diese Thema)
    – thandasoru
    Aug 19, 2013 at 2:34

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