minu arvates

In My Opinion (Minu Arvates)

Level 3

Minu arvates on see hea mõte means In my opinion, that is a good idea. Minu teada ei tule ta täna means As far as I know, he is not coming today.

How It Works

To give an opinion, Estonian uses a genitive plus a fixed word:

  • minu arvates (in my opinion) is the most neutral choice, fine in speech and in writing. Arvates comes from arvama (to think).
  • minu meelest and minu arust mean the same and are common in everyday speech.
  • minu teada means as far as I know. It is about knowledge rather than opinion.

The first word is a genitive, so any person can fill it: sinu arvates, tema meelest, Mari arvates, arsti arvates. The short forms mu and su are very common in speech: mu meelest, su arvates. To ask for someone's opinion, say Mis sinu arvates ...? or Kuidas sulle tundub?

When the phrase starts the sentence, the verb comes right after it, before the subject: Minu arvates on see hea mõte.

Examples (6)

  1. Minu arvates on see hea mõte.

    In my opinion, that is a good idea.

    The verb on comes right after minu arvates.

  2. Minu meelest oli film liiga pikk.

    I thought the film was too long.

  3. Minu teada ei tule ta täna.

    As far as I know, he is not coming today.

  4. Mis sinu arvates juhtus?

    What do you think happened?

  5. Arsti arvates peaksin rohkem magama.

    The doctor thinks I should sleep more.

    Any genitive noun can fill the first slot.

  6. Mu meelest on siin liiga palav.

    I think it is too hot in here.

    mu is the short spoken form of minu.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping English word order after minu arvates.

    Minu arvates see on hea mõte.
    Minu arvates on see hea mõte.

    minu arvates counts as the first element of the sentence, so the verb comes second, before the subject.

  • Translating in my opinion word for word.

    Minu arvamuses on see hea mõte.
    Minu arvates on see hea mõte.

    Estonian does not use arvamus (opinion) in the inessive for this. Use the fixed phrase minu arvates.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

minu arvatesLevel 3In My Opinion (Minu Arvates)

Learn This First

minu arvates uses a possessive genitive.

Words in This Pattern

arvatesmeelestteadmamina