Japanese: how to say: 'I think ...'

Hello everyone!😃

In this post I will share with you how to say: 'I think...' in Japanese.😊

It is easy^^

I think it is cute!😻

If you have been studying Japanese for a while, I am pretty sure you know the Japanese word for 'cute'😊 It is 可愛い (かわいい ka wa i i ).

可愛い is an adjective.
Now, we have 2 types of adjectives in Japanese:

1. (i) adjectives.
2. (na) adjectives.

i-adjectives usually end with い (i). Examples of (i) adjectives are: 

• 可愛い かわいい (ka wa i i) = cute; lovely; adorable.
• 美味しい おいしい (o i shi i) = delicious.
• 面白い おもしろい (o mo shi ro i) = interesting; funny.
• 寒い さむい (sa mu i) = cold.
• 暑い あつい (a tsu i) = hot. 

Notice how they all end with an い (i). 

Examples of na-adjectives: 

• 綺麗 きれい (ki re i) = beautiful; clean.
• 簡単 かんたん (ka n ta n) = easy. 
• 親切 しんせつ (shi n se tsu) = kind. 

You are probably confused now, right? thinking, 'why is 綺麗 きれい (ki re i), classified as a na-adjective while it ends with an (i)?' 

I was confused too but, I thought of it as an exception. So, although 綺麗 きれい (ki re i) ends with an (i), it is a na-adjective. 

We call i-adjectives, " i-adjectives" because they end with (i). 

And we call na-adjectives, "na-adjectives" because we have to add (na) to the adjective to describe a noun with it. So if you want to say: a cute car, you would just say: かわいい車 (kawaii kuruma) - kuruma means car- but if you want to say a beautiful car, you will add a 'na' after the adjective and say: きれいな車 (kirei na kuruma). Makes sense?! ^^

Now, back to the main topic. How to say 'I think it is cute' ?

What is the word for cute in Japanese? 

That's right! 可愛い - かわいい (ka wa i i). 

It is an i-adjective. 

the verb to think is: 思います - おもいます(o mo i ma su). 

I think it is cute! is:

KANJI: 可愛いと思います

HIRAGANA: かわいいとおもいます

ROMAJI: kawaii to omoimasu.

So basically, you just add と思います (to omoimasu) after the adjective. 

Another example:

I think it is easy!

easy is 簡単 かんたん (ka n ta n). This is a na-adjective. 

There is a little difference here! See the Japanese translation and see if you can spot the difference in formation. 

 I think it is easy! is:

KANJI: 簡単だと思います。

HIRAGANA: かんたんだとおもいます。

ROMAJI: kantan da to omoimasu. 

With na-adjectives, we add (だ da)  after the adjective. The reason is simply because it is a na-adjective. 

So, basically you just add と思います - とおもいます (to omoimasu), after i-adjectives,

and だと思います - だとおもいます (da to omoimasu) after na-adjectives.

Easy, isn't it? 😄

i-adjective    + to omoimasu.

na-adjective + da to omoimasu. 

Now try making your own sentences and post them as a comment here!

I hope this was helpful!

Thanks for reading and see you soon!♡