To Omou vs To Omotte Iru: Momentary Opinions and Held Beliefs in Japanese

Thinking as an action with a time shape

Omou is a verb, and like every Japanese verb it has a plain form for events and a te iru form for states that continue. Because English says I think for both a snap judgement and a settled belief, learners rarely notice that Japanese is drawing a line. Sō da to omoimasu tells the listener that you have just weighed the question and reached a conclusion. Sō da to omotte imasu tells them that the conclusion was already there before they asked.

In practice this means to omoimasu is the workhorse of live conversation. Someone asks your view of a film or a schedule change, and you answer with to omoimasu because you are judging on the spot. To omotte imasu appears when you want the listener to know the view has history: you have been planning to move, or you have believed for years that mornings are better for study. One more detail: omou describes the speaker's inner world, so in the plain and masu forms the subject is almost always watashi, even when unsaid. That is the root of the third-person rule below.

Momentary opinion with to omou

The plain form is the one to reach for whenever you react. It attaches to a plain-form clause: a verb in dictionary or nai form, an i-adjective, or a noun or na-adjective followed by da. That da is easy to forget and its absence is the most common slip in this pattern, so drill benri da to omou until the da is automatic. The polite desu never appears inside the clause; politeness lives on omou itself.

Because to omou reflects your own reasoning, it softens a statement. Ashita wa ame desu is a forecast; ashita wa ame da to omoimasu is your reading of the sky. The volitional form plus to omou is a related use: ikō to omoimasu means I think I'll go, a decision reached in the moment. Once that decision has settled it becomes ikō to omotte imasu, the standard way to describe plans.

Held belief and other people's thoughts with to omotte iru

Omotte iru covers two jobs that English handles with separate words. The first is a belief you have carried over time. The second is anyone else's opinion at all, whether held for years or formed a second ago. The reason is the same in both cases: te iru describes an observable, continuing state, and a state is something you can report about another person without pretending to read their mind.

So the rule is simple even if it feels strange at first: when the thinker is not you, use omotte iru. Kare wa ii to omou is wrong in ordinary speech; kare wa ii to omotte iru is right. In questions to the listener the plain form returns, because you are asking them to report their own judgement: dō omoimasu ka. Omotte iru also carries intention. Nihon de hatarakitai to omotte imasu is the standard job-interview line because it shows a settled goal; hatarakitai to omoimasu sounds as if the idea only just occurred to you.

Softening with to omoimasu ga

Adding ga after to omoimasu turns a statement into an opening move. The ga does not contradict anything; it marks the sentence as unfinished so the listener can step in. Japanese meetings run on this ending. Kono hōhō ga ii to omoimasu ga tells the room that you favour this method, that you know others may not, and that you are ready to hear them. Without the ga, the same sentence lands as a decision already made.

Chotto or sukoshi before an adjective plus to omoimasu ga is the standard shape of polite disagreement. In casual speech to omou kedo does the same work, and in formal writing to omowaremasu ga makes the opinion sound almost impersonal. Two variants deserve a place in your speaking: dō ka to omoimasu ga expresses doubt without naming a fault, and ii to omou n desu ga introduces a suggestion you are about to argue for.

Saying what you do not think and what you thought

Japanese usually keeps the negative inside the clause: konai to omoimasu, I think she will not come. Moving the negative onto omou, kuru to wa omoimasen, sounds stronger and more deliberate. The wa after to is almost always there in this pattern and adds a contrastive edge, so use omowanai to push back on an assumption someone has voiced, and the inner negative for ordinary predictions. The set phrase sō wa omowanai, I don't see it that way, disagrees flatly with a friend.

The past form omotta describes a thought that was complete at a moment in the past. It often carries the flavour of a mistaken expectation: ame ga furu to omotta, I thought it would rain, said as the sun comes out. For a belief you held across a period, omotte ita is the form: zutto muri da to omotte ita, I always thought it was impossible. The contrast between omotta and omotte ita mirrors the one between omou and omotte iru exactly.

Forms of omou at a glance

The table gathers the forms you will hear most, with the situation each one suits. Read the Japanese aloud with the reading beside it until both versions are automatic.

Notice that dō omoimasu ka uses the plain form even though it is about the listener's opinion. Questions ask the other person to report their own judgement, so the third-person rule does not apply.

Near-synonyms: kangaeru, ki ga suru and deshō

Learners sometimes swap omou and kangaeru because both translate as think, and a separate guide on this site compares them in depth. In short, kangaeru is deliberate reasoning, closer to consider: kangaete imasu means I am thinking it over, not I believe. Ki ga suru is a feeling with no reasoning behind it and cannot report other people's views. Deshō and darō place the uncertainty on the event rather than in your head: ame deshō, it will probably rain. Choose deshō to sound neutral and omou to own the judgement.

• Omou: opinion or reaction, yours in the plain form, others' in te iru
• Kangaeru: deliberate thinking, considering, working something out
• Ki ga suru: a hunch or feeling without clear grounds
• Deshō or darō: probability placed on the event, not on the speaker

Mistakes that give you away

The first and most frequent error is a missing da: benri to omou, gakusei to omou. Native ears hear it immediately. The second is using omou for someone else, kare wa ii to omoimasu, which sounds like a grammar slip or as if you are announcing what he thinks on his behalf. The third is the reverse: ii to omotte imasu about a draft you saw thirty seconds ago suggests a strangely long relationship with the document.

A fourth mistake is adding to omoimasu to every sentence. Softening works because it is selective; if everything is hedged, nothing is. Finally, watch the negatives: omowanai on a plain prediction, ame ga furu to omowanai, sounds more confrontational than the speaker usually intends.