# EN: think of / think about



## Liphou

Is there any difference between think of and think about?
Maybe one is a mistake, dont know.
Thank you for your help!!
*
Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Generally speaking :

think of : penser de
What do you think of my new haircut ?

think about : penser à
What are you thinking about ?


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## xveronicax

One of the phrases might be more grammatically correct than the other, but I use "think of" and "think about" interchangeably. So, in everyday American English, I don't believe that there's a difference.


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## pieanne

I would say they're interchangable too..


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Generally speaking, I don't think  "think about" is used to express opinion.


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## xveronicax

I think it can be. For example: "What do you think about my new shoes?" 

Like I said, one might be more grammatically correct than the other, but I doubt any anglophone would think twice about using the two phrases interchangeably.


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## pieanne

I don't think either is more grammatically correct than the other... It's a matter of personnal choice.


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## virginie1989

In one of my english test, I wrote _He hesitated for a moment thinking about his patients_. And my teacher crossed it out and wrote me _thinking of_.

I don't understand the difference either...


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## xveronicax

[…]

Either way, if you said that sentence to me, it wouldn't seem wrong or even awkward...but, oh well.


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## enJoanet

Hi all!!!
Could anyone give me some guidelines about how "of" and "about" must be used with the verb _to think_??

For instance, in this case, could both prepositions be used?
_Dites-moi ce que vous pensez de ce travail?

_many thanks in advance!


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## jann

Nomalement il faut employer *to think of *lorsqu'il s'agit d'avoir une opinion sur quelque chose.
_What do you think of his performance?  
What did his parents think of his fiancée?_ 

...mais il est vrai qu'on entend parfois _about_ au lieu de _of _dans ce genre de phrase (ce ne serait peut-être pas tout à fait correct sur un exercice en cours d'anglais, pourtant).  En revanche, si vous ajoutez un adverbe pour préciser l'opinion, il faut impérativement employer _of.
His parents think well of his fiancée.  
Don't tell me anything unpleasant; I would not want to think poorly of him!_

*To think about* veut dire "réfléchir au sujet de".  _
What do you think about when you daydream?
What did you think of his proposal?  I'm not sure yet, I'll have to think about it.


_Finalement, on emploie _of _et _about _lorsqu'il s'agit de se souvenir de quelque chose, de se rendre compte qu'il faut en prendre compte.  On va dire _about_ pour des choses plus compliquées, auxquelles il faudrait effectivement réfléchir... et _of_ pour des choses plus simples.
_Did you pack our big knife in the picnic basket?  We'll need it to cut the watermelon.  --> Oh, thanks for reminding me!  I hadn't thought of that!
But if you're at work and I have to take the children to a birthday party, who is going to pick up John at the train station? --> Oh dear, I hadn't thought about that yet!
_


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## Quainteen

Quelle est la différence entre 
''I think about it''
et
''I think of you''
     ??
Je ne sais pas si l'utilisation de ''of'' est correcte mais je sais qu'à l'oral cela ne choque pas (en tout cas au Canada).


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## cyberpedant

Both your sentences are correct. To my ear, there is absolutely no difference in meaning between "of" and "about" in these contexts.


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## Quainteen

okay so ''I think of you'' and ''I think about you'' do have the same meaning ?


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## cyberpedant

_''I think of you'' and ''I think about you'' do have the same meaning ? 		 		
_ 
Absolutely.


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## geostan

virginie1989 said:


> In one of my english tests, I wrote _He hesitated for a moment thinking about his patients_. And my teacher crossed it out and wrote me _thinking of_.
> 
> I don't understand the difference either...



Your teacher had no reason to count it as an error. If I were to utter this sentence, in fact, _about_ would occur to me first.

Cheers!


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## Canard

> okay so ''I think of you'' and ''I think about you'' do have the same meaning ?


I'd have to say no. If someone said "I'm thinking of you," there's a romantic subtext there. It seems to be more in-depth and intense thinking than just "I'm thinking about you," which might involve any kind of consideration. It's because of this that you see "Thinking *of* you" on Valentine's cards. 
Also note that you wouldn't say "I'm thinking of him" unless it's the above meaning also. You would use "think of him" when referring to an opinion as to his character or what have you, as in "What do you think of him?" If it's just general daydreaming or reflection, then it must be "I'm thinking *about* him/her/it/us/them/etc."

Confusing, isn't it? Even we English-speakers can't agree.

edit: My partner suggested that a Christian might say "I'm thinking of you" to imply you're in their minds and they pray for you, etc. He also agrees that it contains more emotional involvement than just "about."


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## sethmachine

Well, there's somethings in which you can't change them (atleast in my dialect).  
I'm thinking of doing something... 
I'm thinking about doing something...

You can't use of with a gerundive.


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## Angle O'Phial

Interesting, *sethmachine*. Where are you from? In my dialect (blog-standard bicoastal boring), I'm thinking of going to the store, do you want anything? is exactly what I'd say. Much more common than _I'm thinking about going to the store_ which isn't wrong either.


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## Canard

I'd also side with seth here. "thinking of" sounds stilted in that context. I grew up in Portland, Oregon on the West Coast.


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## sethmachine

Well, I come from US East and its often used like this:
I'm thinking about eating, how 'bout you?
You will never hear:
I'm thinking of eating, how of you?


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## Angle O'Phial

Let's not mix two different things. I agree that how of you is wrong, but I'm thinking *of* eating, how *about* you  is fine by me.


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## sethmachine

Well, I guess it depends on your dialect, but I'm thinking of eating sounds like nails scratching a chalkboard to my ears.


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## Dapoint

Hello everyone,

For a long time, I wonder what the difference is between "think of" and "think about". If you can tell me, I would be very pleased and probably someone else will appreciate to understand that difference.

Thanks a lot,

Dapoint


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## XPditif

Hi!
So it's meaning directed:
Thinking of you= je pense à toi en tant qu'être
Thinking about you = je pense à toi en tant que complexe d'interactions avec le monde.
Si tu veux le of est plus généralisant/externe
alors que le about est analytique/ interne (souvent lié à un truc précis).
Ca va, t'en penses quoi?
aussi: any ideas? -Nothing I can think of.
I can't think straight about this problem.


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## arundhati

Je dirais aussi que "think about" est plus actif, et se rapproche souvent "réfléchir à".
Par exemple "I thought of you when I went to Paris..." et "I thought about what you told me yesterday..."


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## Chimel

XPditif said:


> So it's meaning directed:
> Thinking of you= je pense à toi en tant qu'être
> Thinking about you = je pense à toi en tant que complexe d'interactions avec le monde.


Ce n'est pas limpide comme explication, pour moi... 

Supposons un patron qui doit désigner quelqu'un pour un poste. Il fait venir un de ses collaborateurs et il lui dit "Je pensais à vous pour ce job":
- I was thinking of you for this job
ou
- I was thinking about you for this job
(ou ni l'un ni l'autre?)


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## XPditif

Excuse moi, j'ai beaucoup de mal à m'exprimer clairement en français. Bien sur, je parle de la façon dont je ressens la langue (ici des référents).
Donc dans ton très bon exemple, on voit que le français traduirait dans les deux cas "j'ai pensé à toi pour ce travail". D'où le génie de la langue anglaise:
-- le premier dis j'ai pensé à toi en tant que personne, en tant que tout (un peu comme tu es la personne pour ce job)
-- le deuxième c'est plus j'ai réfléchi, et je crois que tu serais un bon choix pour ce job (grâce à certaines compétences que je te connais).
J'espère que c'est mieux...


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## Chimel

Merci pour ces précisions ! 

Je te taquinais parce que je voyais "Native language: français" dans ton profil... N'hésite pas à expliquer en anglais si tu préfères.

Donc, tu confirmes que les deux phrases sont correctes en anglais, mais avec un sens un peu différent? Je suis heureux de l'apprendre parce que j'hésitais toujours entre les deux dans des cas pareils et j'étais persuadé de faire une erreur.


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## TommyGun

Hi,


Canard said:


> ... If someone said "I'm thinking of you," there's a romantic subtext there. It seems to be more in-depth and intense thinking than just "I'm thinking about you," which might involve any kind of consideration. It's because of this that you see "Thinking *of* you" on Valentine's cards.  ...





Angle O'Phial said:


> ... In my dialect (blog-standard bicoastal boring), I'm thinking of going to the store, do you want anything? is exactly what I'd say. Much more common than _I'm thinking about going to the store_ which isn't wrong either. ...



Is there a difference in intensity between these sentences?

_I'm thinking of doing something... 
I'm thinking about doing something..._

If no, is there any difference in perception between them?


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## jann

There are two possible meanings for "to think of/about + V-ing":

(1) to weigh whether or not you will do that thing, to contemplate that activity, to consider making plans to do that activity
(2) to envision oneself actually doing the activity in question

Usage is somewhat fluid, but for me, "to think *of* V-ing" tends to mean (1) and is only occasionally used to mean (2)... whereas "to think *about* V-ing" is used to convey both meanings quite naturally. 

Of course, meaning (1) is a far more common idea to need to express, but context will confirm that you have understood properly.


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## isaibro

Jean-Michel Carrère said:


> Generally speaking, I don't think  "think about" is used to express opinion.


This is not true. I can ask you: What do you think about President  Obama? It's a question of opinion and "think about" is still used.  I'd say they're interchangeable.


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