B1 · 40 Wörter

Opinion and discussion

Saying what you think, saying why, and disagreeing without a row — the vocabulary an exam at B1 is mostly made of.

Three phrases carry most of an opinion in German and are worth learning as fixed units: meiner Meinung nach (in my opinion), ich finde, dass ... (I think that), and es kommt darauf an (it depends). The first of them takes a dative and puts the preposition after the noun, which is unusual and simply has to be memorised. German disagreement is more direct than English disagreement, and that is a fact about the culture rather than about the language. Das sehe ich anders is a normal, polite thing to say in a meeting; the English habit of prefacing it with three softeners can read as evasive rather than as courteous.

Die Wörter

Verb (15)

diskutierento discussVerbB1

Wir haben stundenlang darüber diskutiert.We discussed it for hours.

Takes "über" plus the accusative. No ge- in the participle.

begründento give reasons for, to justifyVerbB1

Können Sie das begründen?Can you give reasons for that?

Inseparable: no ge- in the participle.

zustimmento agreeVerbB1

Da stimme ich Ihnen zu.I agree with you there.

Separable, and it takes a dative for the person.

widersprechento contradict, to disagreeVerbB1

Ich muss Ihnen da widersprechen.I have to disagree with you there.

Inseparable, and it takes a dative.

ablehnento reject, to turn downVerbB1

Der Antrag wurde abgelehnt.The application was rejected.

Separable.

vorschlagento suggest, to proposeVerbB1

Ich schlage vor, wir treffen uns Montag.I suggest we meet on Monday.

Separable and strong: du schlägst vor, vorgeschlagen.

überzeugento convinceVerbB1

Das Ergebnis hat mich nicht überzeugt.The result did not convince me.

Inseparable. Reflexive it means to see for yourself.

behauptento claim, to assertVerbB1

Er behauptet, davon nichts gewusst zu haben.He claims to have known nothing about it.

Inseparable.

bezweifelnto doubtVerbB1

Das bezweifle ich stark.I strongly doubt that.

Inseparable.

übertreibento exaggerateVerbB1

Jetzt übertreibst du.Now you are exaggerating.

Inseparable: übertrieben, no ge-.

einsehento accept, to see (a point)VerbB1

Das sehe ich ein.I accept that.

Separable. Also means to inspect a document.

sich einigento reach agreementVerbB1

Wir haben uns auf einen Kompromiss geeinigt.We agreed on a compromise.

Reflexive, with "auf" plus the accusative.

einleuchtento make sense, to be obviousVerbB1

Das leuchtet mir ein.That makes sense to me.

Separable, with a dative for the person.

nachvollziehento understand, to followVerbB1

Ich kann das gut nachvollziehen.I can quite understand that.

Separable. Understanding somebody's reasoning rather than a fact.

vermutento suspect, to assumeVerbB1

Ich vermute, sie hat es vergessen.I assume she has forgotten.

Inseparable.

Adverb (8)

einerseitson the one handAdverbB1

Einerseits ist es billiger, andererseits dauert es länger.On the one hand it is cheaper, on the other it takes longer.

Almost always paired with "andererseits".

andererseitson the other handAdverbB1

Andererseits hat er nicht ganz unrecht.On the other hand he is not entirely wrong.

trotzdemnevertheless, all the sameAdverbA2

Trotzdem würde ich es noch einmal machen.All the same I would do it again.

Counts as an element, so the subject follows the verb.

deswegenthat is why, thereforeAdverbB1

Deswegen habe ich abgesagt.That is why I cancelled.

Also "deshalb" and "darum", with no real difference.

außerdembesides, moreoverAdverbA2

Außerdem ist es zu weit.Besides, it is too far.

offensichtlichobviously, evidentlyAdverbB1

Offensichtlich hat das niemand gelesen.Evidently nobody read that.

allerdingsadmittedly, thoughAdverbB1

Das stimmt allerdings.That is true, admittedly.

Softens an agreement or introduces a reservation.

immerhinat least, after allAdverbB1

Immerhin hat er sich entschuldigt.At least he apologised.

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