How to Say I Think in Japanese: To Omoimasu, Kamoshiremasen and Softer Options

To omoimasu and to omou: the basic pattern

The verb is omou, to think, and the pattern is plain-form sentence plus to omoimasu. The clause before to stays in plain form even in polite speech: ii to omoimasu, not ii desu to omoimasu. Nouns and na-adjectives take da before to: benri da to omoimasu, I think it is convenient. With friends the ending is to omou, and in casual speech the to often shrinks to tte: ii tte omou.

To omoimasu states a considered view. It is not weak, and it is not a hedge. In a meeting, ii to omoimasu is an endorsement, and chigau to omoimasu is a clear disagreement. Learners sometimes add it to every sentence hoping to sound humble, which has the opposite effect, because a string of verdicts sounds certain. Use it when you actually mean this is my view.

Two related forms are common. To omotte imasu, the continuous form, describes an opinion you have held for a while or a plan: rainen Nihon ni ikō to omotte imasu, I am thinking of going to Japan next year. To omoimashita, the past, reports what you thought at the time and is often used to introduce a reaction: takai to omoimashita, I thought it was expensive.

N ja nai ka na and kana: thinking aloud

When a Japanese speaker is guessing rather than judging, they rarely use to omou. They use a question aimed at nobody in particular. Kana on its own turns a sentence into I wonder: ame kana, I wonder if it will rain. N ja nai ka na adds a negative question inside: ii n ja nai ka na, I'd have thought it was fine, wouldn't you say? The double negative feel is exactly what makes it gentle; the speaker is offering a view and inviting a correction in the same breath.

The polite version is n ja nai deshō ka, which is very common at work: raishū no hō ga ii n ja nai deshō ka, wouldn't next week be better? Even more careful is n ja nai ka to omoimasu, which wraps the guess inside to omoimasu: mondai nai n ja nai ka to omoimasu, I would think there is no problem. These forms are useful precisely when you have a clear opinion but want the other person to feel free to disagree.

Kamoshiremasen and deshō: degrees of certainty

Kamoshiremasen, or kamoshirenai in casual speech, attaches to a plain-form clause and means it may be the case that. It is about possibility, not opinion, and it commits to nothing. Okureru kamoshiremasen, I might be late, is a warning rather than a view. In conversation the casual form shortens to kamo: ame kamo, might rain.

Deshō sits higher on the certainty scale than kamoshiremasen but lower than to omoimasu. Ame deshō means it will probably rain, based on evidence rather than on your judgement. Tabun in front of any of these adds probably and is the most common way to grade a guess: tabun daijōbu da to omoimasu, I think it is probably fine. Combine the words to fine-tune: tabun ... deshō is a confident forecast; moshikashitara ... kamoshiremasen is a cautious one.

A simple scale from confident to cautious runs: to omoimasu, deshō, n ja nai ka na, kamoshiremasen. Pick your place on it before you speak, and your Japanese will match your real level of certainty.

Ki ga suru and other feeling-based phrases

Ki ga suru means I have a feeling that, and it attaches to a plain clause with the same particle as omou: ame ga furu ki ga suru, I have a feeling it will rain. Where to omou implies you have thought it through, ki ga suru reports an impression. It is the phrase for hunches, memories you are not sure of, and reactions you cannot fully explain: dokoka de atta ki ga shimasu, I feel as if we have met somewhere.

Two neighbours are useful. Yō na ki ga suru softens it further, it sort of feels like. Sō means looks like based on appearance: oishisō, looks delicious, or furisō, looks like rain. And for a view about something you know only partly, watashi no kanji da to, going by my impression, or watashi no kangae de wa, in my view, announce that what follows is personal.

At work: to zonjimasu and careful opinions

In business Japanese the plain to omoimasu is fine in most meetings, but with clients, in formal emails and in interviews you will meet to zonjimasu, the humble form. Zonjiru replaces omou when the speaker lowers themselves: yoroshii ka to zonjimasu, I think that would be acceptable. You do not need to say it often; recognising it and producing it once or twice in a formal setting is enough.

More important at work is the packaging around the opinion. Japanese meetings often preface a view with a phrase that marks it as personal and provisional: watakushi no kangae de wa, in my view; kojin-teki ni wa, personally; ichi-iken to shite, as one opinion. Then the opinion itself is often ended with ga in place of a full stop, ... to omoimasu ga, which leaves it open for others. Combined with n ja nai deshō ka, this lets you put quite a strong view on the table without anyone feeling cornered.

The phrase set side by side

The table matches each phrase to its level of certainty and the setting where it sounds natural. The casual column is what you say to friends; the polite column is for colleagues, staff and strangers.

Disagreeing gently

Disagreement in Japanese is usually a three-step move: acknowledge, pivot, offer. First acknowledge with sō desu ne or naruhodo, which does not mean you agree, only that you heard. Then pivot with tada, only, or demo, but; tada is softer. Then offer your own view in one of the gentle forms from this guide, ideally ending with ga or deshō ka. Sō desu ne, tada, sukoshi hayai ki ga shimasu ga, that's true, only, I have a feeling it is a bit early.

• Acknowledge first: sō desu ne, naruhodo, or ossharu tōri desu
• Pivot with tada rather than demo when the other person is senior
• Frame the view as personal: kojin-teki ni wa, watashi no kangae de wa
• Choose a soft form: n ja nai deshō ka, ki ga shimasu, ka to omoimasu
• End with ga or deshō ka so the other side can answer
• Avoid sō omoimasen and chigaimasu unless the fact is simply wrong

Negating the clause rather than the verb of thinking also helps: sō ja nai to omoimasu, I think that is not the case, is softer than sō omoimasen, I do not think so, because it treats your disagreement as one more opinion rather than a rejection of theirs.

Mistakes that make opinions sound wrong

The most common grammar slip is polite form before to: ii desu to omoimasu is wrong, ii to omoimasu is right. The second is dropping da after a noun or na-adjective: shizuka to omoimasu should be shizuka da to omoimasu. The third is using omoimasu for what someone else is thinking; that needs omotte iru, or the evidential yō desu or rashii desu.

The tone slips are bigger. Ending every sentence with to omoimasu sounds oddly firm, as if you are issuing rulings. Answering a personal question with kamoshiremasen, for example about whether you like something, sounds evasive; to omoimasu or plain desu is better. And translating I think so directly as sō omoimasu is fine, but I don't think so as sō omoimasen can land as a flat contradiction; the clause-negation sō ja nai to omoimasu is safer.