Part 3 · Joining ideas · Lesson 32
Thinking, feeling and emotion words
How to report opinions and feelings: と思う, と考える, と感じる, 気がする, and the strict rule about who can feel what: emotion adjectives for 'I' and the 〜がる form for everyone else.
思う, 考える, 感じる
All three take a quote with と, but they feel different.
| Verb | Feel | Example |
|---|---|---|
| と思う | I think (intuitive, soft) | 彼は来ると思う。 |
| と考える | I consider (reasoned) | これは問題だと考える。 |
| と感じる | I feel that (impression) | 疲れていると感じる。 |
| 気がする | I have a feeling | 彼が来る気がする。 |
〜ような気がする
Add ような to make a looser impression:
Who is thinking?
You think. 思う reports your thought. For someone else's thought, use 思っている with a quote, or a hearsay form:
Feeling words: the person rule
This is a rule English doesn't have. Emotion and sensation adjectives (嬉しい, 悲しい, 寂しい, 怖い, 欲しい, 痛い, 暑い, 寒い) describe how you feel. You can use them in plain form for yourself:
For another person, you cannot state their inner feelings as fact. You report signs of them with 〜がる, or add a hearsay marker (〜そうだ, 〜らしい, 〜ようだ).
〜がる attaches to the adjective stem (い removed) and works like a verb.
| First person | Third person |
|---|---|
| 私は嬉しい | 彼は嬉しがっている |
| 私は欲しい | 彼は欲しがっている |
| 私は行きたい | 彼は行きたがっている |
| 私は怖い | 彼は怖がっている |
Notice that the particle changes: 怖い takes が (a feeling toward something), 怖がる takes を (an action).
Reason for a feeling: て-form
A feeling's cause is often the て-form:
Longer sentences
Thoughts and feelings are reported with specific patterns. Watch who is feeling.
Key points
- と思う (soft), と考える (reasoned), と感じる (impression), 気がする (hunch).
- 思っている for other people's thoughts.
- Emotion adjectives describe you. For others use 〜がる, 〜そうだ or hearsay.
- The cause of a feeling is the て-form: 会えて嬉しい.
Drill these patterns
Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: