おもう

Japanese

Alternative spellings
思う 想う (somewhat literary) 念う (literary) 惟う (literary) 憶う (literary) 懐う (literary)

Etymology

⟨omo₂pu⟩ → */əməpu/ → /omoɸu/ → /omou/

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE. Also appears in the Man'yōshū poetry compilation, completed c. 759 CE. There are two main theories for its ultimate derivation:

• May be cognate with 面 (omo, “face”), from the sense of how one's emotions appear on one's face.
• May be cognate with 重 (omo, “weight”), from the sense of weighing different options. Compare similar derivations of English ponder (as in “to weigh; to think”) and ponderous (as in “heavy, weighty”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おもう [òmóꜜù] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [o̞mo̞ɯ̟]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「思う」

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	思う	おもう	[òmóꜜù]
Imperative (命令形)	思え	おもえ	[òmóꜜè]
Key constructions
Passive	思われる	おもわれる	[òmówáréꜜrù]
Causative	思わせる	おもわせる	[òmówáséꜜrù]
Potential	思える	おもえる	[òmóéꜜrù]
Volitional	思おう	おもおー	[òmóóꜜò]
Negative	思わない	おもわない	[òmówáꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	思わなかった	おもわなかった	[òmówáꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	思います	おもいます	[òmóímáꜜsù]
Perfective	思った	おもった	[òmóꜜttà]
Conjunctive	思って	おもって	[òmóꜜttè]
Hypothetical conditional	思えば	おもえば	[òmóꜜèbà]

Verb

おもう • (omou) ^{←おもふ (omofu)?}intransitive godan (stem おもい (omoi), past おもった (omotta))

1. to think, to deem
2. 思う: (と〜) to think that

   私(わたし)は田(た)中(なか)先(せん)生(せい)のクラスはとても面(おも)白(しろ)かったと思(おも)います。

   Watashi wa Tanaka-sensei no kurasu wa totemo omoshirokatta to omoimasu.

   I think that Prof. Tanaka's classes were very interesting.

3. to long for, to yearn for

   故(ふる)郷(さと)を思(おも)う

   furusato o omou

   to think of one's hometown

Usage notes

A pattern with which this verb is often used is:

(私は + ) [sentence] + (と + 思う/思っている).

[sentence] + (と + 私は + 思う/思っている).

• When ending in 思う, the pattern expresses opinions which the speaker holds at the time of speaking.
• When ending in 思っている, the pattern expresses opinions which the speaker has had since sometime in the past
• 思っている is also used to express opinions by someone other than the speaker.

While both 思う (omou) and synonym 考える (kangaeru) can be used to mean to think, omou may include more emotional and subjective overtones, whereas kangaeru implies more analytic and objective thought.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "おもう" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	おもわ	omowa
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	おもい	omoi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	おもう	omou
Rentaikei ("attributive")	おもう	omou
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	おもえ	omoe
Meireikei ("imperative")	おもえ	omoe
Key constructions
Passive	おもわれる	omowareru
Causative	おもわせる おもわす	omowaseru omowasu
Potential	おもえる	omoeru
Volitional	おもおう	omoō
Negative	おもわない	omowanai
Negative continuative	おもわず	omowazu
Formal	おもいます	omoimasu
Perfective	おもった	omotta
Conjunctive	おもって	omotte
Hypothetical conditional	おもえば	omoeba

Classical conjugation of "おもふ" (ハ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	おもは		omofa
Continuative (連用形)	おもひ		omofi
Terminal (終止形)	おもふ		omofu
Attributive (連体形)	おもふ		omofu
Realis (已然形)	おもへ		omofe
Imperative (命令形)	おもへ		omofe
Key constructions
Negative	おもはず		omofazu
Contrasting conjunction	おもへど		omofedo
Causal conjunction	おもへば		omofeba
Conditional conjunction	おもはば		omofaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	おもひき		omofiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	おもひけり		omofikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	おもひつ		omofitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	おもひぬ		omofinu
Perfect-continuative tense	おもへり おもひたり		omoferi omofitari
Volitional	おもはむ		omofamu

Synonyms

• 考(かんが)える (kangaeru)

Derived terms

• 慮(おもんぱか)る (omonpakaru, “(formal) to consider carefully”)