“Podle mě” — how to say ‘in my opinion’

The word podle means “according to”. It’s a preposition, and like several Czech prepositions it’s always followed by the genitive case — the “of whom / of what” form. So the pattern is simply: podle + [someone / something in the genitive].

1. Saying “in my opinion”

The everyday way to give your opinion is podle mě — literally “according to me.” Slightly fuller and more formal is podle mého názoru (“according to my opinion”).

2. “According to” someone else

Swap in any person — just put them in the genitive:

3. “According to” a thing — a rule, a map, the weather

It works just as well with things, and this is where you’ll hear it constantly:

• podle zákona — according to the law
• podle mapy — according to / by the map
• podle plánu — according to plan
• podle počasí — depending on the weather
• podle mě to nefunguje — the way I see it, it doesn’t work

4. The genitive forms of “me, you, him…”

Because podle takes the genitive, the pronouns change. These are the ones you’ll use most:

• podle mě — according to me
• podle tebe — according to you (informal)
• podle něj / podle ní — according to him / her
• podle nás / podle vás — according to us / you (formal or plural)
• podle nich — according to them

So remember the frame: podle + genitive. Start with Podle mě… and you can share your opinion on anything — no “idea” required.