# I think so / I think not



## Joannes

Hi all,

I would like to know how you say this in your language:

Given the proposition *John eats a grape*, people can say whether they think the proposition is true or not:
True: *I think** so.*
False: *I think** not.*

How would you say these in your language? Please avoid using another verb, like in *I think he does*.

Can you please indicate what words/phrases replace the embedded proposition and indicate its truth value: in English these are *so* and *not*. Could you also tell what other functions these usually serve in your language: does it concern a 'yes', 'not', 'no', 'so', affirmative particle, something else?

I hope I made myself clear, if not, please ask. 

Then, let me start off by giving the Dutch and French versions:

Dutch:
True: *Ik denk van wel.*
False: *Ik denk van niet.*

French:
True: *Je crois que oui.*
False: *Je crois que non.*

In Dutch, *wel* is a (often contrastive) affirmative particle (e.g. *Ik heb het wel* 'I _do_ have it'), and *niet* means 'not'. *Van* is a preposition 'of, from' that seems to be used as a subordinator here. In French, *oui* means 'yes' and *non* means 'no'; *que* is the usual subordinator.

Thanks in advance!


----------



## Conchita57

Spanish has the same construction as French:

True: *Creo que sí*.
False: *Creo que no*.


----------



## sam1978

Italian: 
Penso/Credo di sì.
Penso/Credo di no.


----------



## בעל-חלומות

*Hebrew: *
אני חושב שכן
אני חושב שלא

Grammatically, it's just like French and Spanich, although the verb means "to think" and not "to believe".

Another common way is:
נראה לי (seems to me)
לא נראה לי (no seems to me)


----------



## jazyk

In Portuguese:
Creio/penso/acho que sim.
Creio/penso/acho que não.


----------



## Quelle

In German.
Ich glaube/denke ja.
Ich glaube/denke nein (no) - nicht (not).


----------



## Conchita57

In Lebanese:

B3a_te_'ed.
Ma b3a_te_'ed.


----------



## elroy

Conchita57 said:


> In Lebanese:
> 
> B3a_te_'ed.
> Ma b3a_te_'ed.


 I'm not Lebanese, but I'm pretty sure the correct pronunciation is "ba3..." and not "b3a...".

In Palestinian Arabic:

Azinni. [lit. _I think._] / Azinni aa. [lit. _I think yes._]
Ma'azinniish. [lit._ I don't think._] / Azinni la'. [lit. _I think no._]


----------



## theo1006

In Indonesian:

True: Saya kira begitu.
False: Saya kira tidak.

The sentences run word for word parallel with the English.


----------



## Conchita57

elroy said:


> I'm not Lebanese, but I'm pretty sure the correct pronunciation is "ba3..." and not "b3a...".



You're quite right -- I have indeed misplaced* the 'ayn' (transcribing Arabic into Roman characters is still a bit of a challenge for me).

* I'm almost sure 'misplaced' is wrong, but I can't find the right word!


----------



## Joannes

Thank you all for your answers! 

Elroy, or anyone, how would you say it in MSA?

And please, keep them coming!!


----------



## elroy

In MSA, you could say

أظن ذلك [lit. _I think that_.]
لا أظن ذلك [lit. _I do not think that._] 





Quelle said:


> In German.
> Ich glaube/denke ja.
> Ich glaube/denke nein (no) - nicht (not).


 For "I think so," it's also possible to say "Ich glaube/denke *schon*." "Schon" has many meanings and uses, but in this case it's just like the Dutch "wel" in the corresponding Dutch sentence - an affirmative particle, as Joannes called it.


----------



## Flaminius

Japanese:

I think so.
そう思う (_sō omou_)

I don't think so.
そうは思わない (_sō-wa omowanai_)


----------



## Zsanna

In Hungarian:

I think so. - *Azt hiszem*, (hogy) *igen*.
I think not. - *Azt hiszem*, (hogy) *nem*. 

(Although *Nem hiszem*. = _I don't think so_. would be probably more natural to say or said more often in pratice.)


----------



## OldAvatar

Romanian:

Cred că da! (I think so)
Cred că nu! (I don't think so)


----------



## Nizo

*Esperanto*

I think so = _mi pensas ke jes_
I think not / I don't think so = _mi pensas ke ne_


----------



## Joannes

Thank you all very much for your answers! It's interesting to see so many yesses and noes involved. I'm still very curious about how people say it in other languages... Please keep them coming.


----------



## sokol

elroy said:


> For "I think so," it's also possible to say "Ich glaube/denke *schon*." "Schon" has many meanings and uses, but in this case it's just like the Dutch "wel" in the corresponding Dutch sentence - an affirmative particle, as Joannes called it.


I think so. 

Anyway, I would give the following German versions:
Ich glaube *schon*.
Ich glaube *nicht*. (= not) -> 'nein' = 'no' too is possible, but 'nicht' seems to be more idiomatic according to my taste (probably there's a regional difference involved here, as Quelle is German but I am Austrian). 'Denken' instead of 'glauben' = 'believe' (indicated as a variant by Quelle, and 'denken' would be the literal translation of 'think) too seems to be not very idiomatic for my taste, in this case.


----------



## elroy

I also prefer "ich glaube schon/nicht."  I'm not German, but I speak Bundesdeutsch, have lived in Germany, and can say from experience that the variants I prefer are widely used by Germans.


----------



## Zsanna

Joannes said:


> Thank you all very much for your answers! It's interesting to see so many yesses and noes involved. I'm still very curious about how people say it in other languages... Please keep them coming.


 
It is not really surprising if you consider it as a type of indirect speech or a sentence that would be like this in its full form:
I think the answer (to your question) is "yes" or "no".


----------



## kusurija

In Czech:
True 1: Myslím, že ano/jo(=I think _that _yes) / True 2: Asi ano/jo (=maybe yes) 
False 1: Myslím, že ne. / True 2: Asi ne.

In Lithuanian:
True 1: Manau/manyčiau kad taip. (=I think/I'd think _that _yes)  True 2: Sakyčiau kad taip. (=I'd say _that _yes) True 3: Turbūt (kad) taip. (=[it's]most really (_that_) yes.

False 1: Manau/manyčiau kad ne. ...F2, F3: just simply change "taip" to "ne".


----------



## jana.bo99

Slovenian: Verjamem tako! (Verjamem v to)
               Ne verjamem!   (Ne verjamem v to)

Croatian:   Vjerujem da je tako!
               Vjerujem da nije tako!

We don't use it in that way, so it can be a bit wrong. 

If would be nice if here is somebody to write it better?

jana.bo


----------



## sokol

Jana.bo, I think it would be more like:

Slovenian:
Verjamem.
Ne verjamem.
(And Croatian similar probably: Vjerujem. Ne vjerujem.)

The affirmative of 'so' wouldn't be expressed in Slavic languages in general, I think - it would be just a verb, this is sufficient to express the same meaning.
In the negative version 'ne' corresponds to 'not'.

The examples you've given aren't used, as you said so yourself.

In Spanish, by the way, this would be:

Creo que sí.
Creo que no.


----------



## Tolovaj_Mataj

jana.bo99 said:


> Slovenian: Verjamem tako! (Verjamem v to)
> Ne verjamem! (Ne verjamem v to)


 
I don't really agree with your Slovene version.

_verjeti_ = to believe
_misliti_ = to think

I and people around me never use the verb _verjeti_ in such a profane context. 

True: Mislim, da ja. 
False: Mislim, da ne.


----------



## bb3ca201

In Gaelic, it depends on what the original verb is (in the subordinate clause). To give an example, to say "I think so" to "Did he eat the food?", you have to repeat the verb "eat" in the reply:

An do dh'ith e am biadh?  Tha mi a' smaoineachadh gun do dh'ith.

Using just a regular verb "to be", the answers are:

I think so = Tha mi a' smaoineachadh gum bheil.

I think not = Tha mi a' smaoineachadh nach eil.


----------



## dana Haleana

I think so: siguro
I think not: 'di naman siguro


----------



## Christo Tamarin

OldAvatar said:


> Romanian:
> 
> Cred că da! (I think so)
> Cred că nu! (I don't think so)


In Bulgarian, it is almost the same:
*Мисля, че да*. /Mislya che da/ I think so. 
*Мисля, че не*. /Mislya che ne/ I don't think so.


----------

