LEARN + JAPANESE / 76 of 186 JLPT N4
As Far As I Can Tell と思う
のではないだろうか makes a tentative, reflective claim: “might it be that…?” It is less direct than a firm assertion and is common in essays and considered opinions.
と思う attaches after a whole plain-form clause and means “I think that.” と here works like a quoting particle, marking everything before it as the content of the thought, with 思う simply naming it as an opinion.
I think it's a good university.
I don't think the teacher is strict.
Hint · 힌트
The whole clause before と stays in its plain form, even in a polite sentence, いい大学だ, not いい大学です, since と思います is what carries the politeness at the very end. Negating the opinion itself, thinking the teacher isn’t strict, reads more naturally in Japanese than negating 思う, saying “I don’t think,” which sounds unnatural here.
I think the people in this town are kind to foreigners.
I think we have to move out of the dorm for summer break.
Hint · 힌트
と思います stacks cleanly on top of grammar you already know, なければならない, てはいけない, かもしれない, all sitting comfortably right before と思います to soften a claim into a personal opinion rather than a flat statement of fact.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| strict | |
| kind | |
| foreigner | |
| dormitory | |
| summer vacation | |
| Japanese food | |
| kind | |
| opinion | |
| impression, thoughts | |
| personally | |
| to be honest | |
| to judge | |
| to evaluate | |
| position, standpoint | |
| to assert, claim | |
| thought, idea | |
| viewpoint | |
| to be convinced | |
| to guess | |
| to be convinced, accept |
YOUR PROGRESS
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