how do we use ‘to omoimasu’

i'm aware that 'to omoimasu' is used in a sentence consisting of 'i think...'.
can someone enlighten me of how to use it with soem examples?

does the word used right before 'to omoimasu' have to be a verb(in te-form/ta-form etc) or a noun?

thank you

そうだと思いますけど　まだわかりません。
I think so but I'm not so sure (not sure yet).
(I believe it is so but not certain.)

そうだと思います。or そうだと思う。
I think (imagine）so.　

そこでしようと思う。
Thinking about doing it there.


彼らの事をどう思いましたか？
What did you think of them?

This is how you use it:

Informal/Casual form + to omou
(I think 〜)

Eg.
Verb: Kare ga konai to omoimasu.
(I think that he won't be coming.)

i-adjective: Nihongo wa mukashii to omoimasu.
(I think/find that Japanese is difficult.)

na-adjective: Kyou no TESUTO wa kantan da to omoimasu.
(I think that the test today will be easy.)

Noun: Ano hito wa nihonjin da to omoimasu.
(I think that person over there is a Japanese.)



---そこでしようと思う (Soko de shiyou to omou)---

This only applies to verbs:

Volitional-form + to omou
(I plan to/think of 〜)

Eg.
Ashita eiga ni ikou to omoimasu.
(I plan to go for a movie tomorrow.)

Kono PASOKON wo kaou to omoimasu.
(I plan to buy this computer.)



---そうだと思う---

I think that 「そう思う」 is more natural.

------i-adjective: Nihongo wa mukashii to omoimasu.
(I think/find that Japanese is difficult.)--------

change to,
"Nihongo ha muzukashii to omoimasu."

----Ashita eiga ni ikou to omoimasu.
(I plan to go for a movie tomorrow.)------

or
"Ashita eigakan ni ikukoto wo kangaete imasu."
( Ashita eigankani ikukoto wo kangaetemasu)

-----そうだと思う
I think that 「そう思う」 is more natural.-------

Depends on how and what you're replying to. It's not always そう思う。
そうだと思う is perfectly correct and commonly used.

Firstly, thanks for the correction. Indeed, it should be "muzukashii", instead of "mukashii". Sorry for the typo error.


---Depends on how and what you're replying to. It's not always そう思う。
そうだと思う is perfectly correct and commonly used.---

Well, I have no dispute over this. I just thought that if you are simply saying "I think so", そう思う might be more natural. Then again, it's case by case, isn't it? =)

So when do you use "omou" and when "omotteiru"? Different teachers and Japanese books have explained it in different ways, and I'm a bit confused...

One book says you're suppose to use "omotteiru" when you're talking about something someone else is thinking. But then one teacher said you use omotteiru when you've been thiking about something for a longer time. One teacher teacher told me the ecxat opposite.

Maybe I didn't really understand the explanations, can somebody help...?

Let us use some examples to explain the 2 forms, shall we?

So, how do we say "I plan to go shopping tomorrow" & "My sister plans to go shopping tomorrow"?

1)
(Watashi wa) Ashita kaimono ni ikou to omoimasu.

2)
Imouto wa ashita kaimono ni ikou to omoimasu. ----- Incorrect
Imouto wa ashita kaimono ni ikou to omotteimasu. ----- Correct

When saying someone else's thought, "omotteiru" is used instead of "omou".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next, what's the difference between the following 2 sentences?

1) Raishuu PAATII wo yarou to omoimasu.
2) Raishuu PAATII wo yarou to omotteimasu.

The 1st sentence would mean "I plan to have a party next week". Whereas the 2nd sentence would mean "I have been planning of having a party next week".

When "omotteiru" is used on the speaker himself/herself, it means that the speaker has been thinking about something for a long period of time.

Thanks, I think I got it now :)

so the short form of "desu", is only needed following a "na" adjective and not a short form verb or "i" adjective?

--------I just thought that if you are simply saying "I think so", そう思う might be more natural. Then again, it's case by case, isn't it? -----------

Az, if you looked at my original post I did type in (imagine) next to 'think'.
Example： for a similar phrase..
違うと思う。
Also remember that
そう思う and そうだと思う are often used for "そう思う？"or "そうだと思う？". Of course it's matter of how you tone it.

日本人より

----Ashita eiga ni ikou to omoimasu.(omottemasu)
(I plan to go for a movie tomorrow.)---------

明日映画に行こうと思ってます。

明日映画を見に行くつもりです。(planning on going to see a movie tomorrow.)

----Imouto wa ashita kaimono ni ikou to omoimasu. ----- Incorrect
Imouto wa ashita kaimono ni ikou to omotteimasu. ----- Correct-----

妹は明日買い物に行くよー。

---so the short form of "desu", is only needed following a "na" adjective and not a short form verb or "i" adjective?---

Indeed.

Noun/Na-adjective + da to omou

Verb (Informal-form)/I-adjective + to omou

Thank for your reply.

I'm neither comparing myself with anyone out there nor am I saying I'm better than the rest of you here. I am still in the progress of learning and just providing my views on the questions posted.

Anyway, the use of 「そう思う」 & 「そうだと思う」 is now making me confused. Would you be kind enough to explain it through some examples?

I would also appreciate it if anyone else could also provide their views/explanations on this.

Thanks in advance. =)

Example for（そうだと思います or そうだと思う=casual):

'あの人はアメリカ人ですか？'
Anohito ha america jin desuka?
そうだと思います。(or そうだと思う-casual.)
transpires into 'I think he is' or 'I think so" mode.　

Example for your（そう思う):
そう思うけど　分からないねー？=casual　（sou omou ke do wakaranaine?）
'I think so but hard to tell”

そうだと思いますけど　でも分かりませんね？　= proper, formal and practical.

With question marks:
(sou omou?) would mean (.. think so?)as in 'do you think so?'

ドラゴンが勝つよ-。（dragon ga katsu yo.）
I bet Dragon will win.
そうだと思う？　そう思うの？
(sou da to omou?　or sou omou no?） means "do you think so?" "d'ya think?" in this context.

etc etc.

Guess what? I've found a site which explains the use of 「そう思う」 & 「そうだと思う」:

http://nihon5ch.net/ch5/kosatsu/31.html


For those who are interested, allow me to sum up what's written on the site:

「そう思う」 can be used with nouns/adjectives/verbs. On the other hand, 「そうだと思う」 can only be used with nouns/na-adjectives.

Eg.
A:「このドレス、有名ブランド品よね／かなり高いよね／私に似合うよね」
B:「私もそう思う」

A:「このドレス、有名ブランド品よね」
B:「私もそうだと思う」

Then again, 「そうだと思う」 can also be used with i-adjectives and verbs, isn't it?

Eg.
A:「ねぇ、私ってかわいい？」
B:「ああ、そうだと思うよ」

Strictly speaking, it can only be used with nouns or na-adjectives (which have the same characteristic as nouns). Although the above example is grammatically incorrect, it is commonly used in that manner.

Perhaps, it is understood that 「の」 is added to the sentence to normalize it.

Eg.
A:「ねぇ、私ってかわいい（の）？」
B:「ああ、そうだと思うよ」

A:「山田さんは行く（の）？」
B:「そうだと思う」

Yes there is many ways to use sou omou.
However, theres is a lot of instances you don't need to say 'watashi' before your 'そう思う'sou omoimasu or omoukedo.. or omou in average conversations. It's kind of like 'watashi' is already in there. On the other instances you do need to say 'watashi mo sou omou. or omounoyo.' if you're saying 'I think so too.' as an example.
Site you found has watashi in every examples though most don't need it. I think it's shown that way so people understand the usage of sou omou.

omoimasu & omou
it is too difficult for me to understand the difference, it is my headache, but I can speak Jpn ....!!!

how about expressing
'don't you think so?'
in japanese..

That would be:

そう思いませんか?
(Sou omoimasen ka?)

OR

cc might say that it's:

そうだと思いませんか?
(Sou da to omoimasenka)

thanks A-Z. :)
opps,another question.i forgot to ask bout the past tense and informal form of of 'to omoimasu' as in 'i thought'.
what would that be?
eg. 'i thought you didn't want me to reply'
'i thought you didn't want me to come'