THINK Basic Verbs Learn English Grammar
what now have you ever thought about how much
you think about thinking hi everybody my
name is Alisha welcome to know your
verbs in this episode we’re going to
talk about the verb think so let’s get
started
the basic definition of think is to have
in the mind so something you can keep in
your mind like an idea or an image some
thing you keep in your head something in
your mind something in your brain so to
keep in the mind is think to think this
is the basic definition of think so
let’s look at the conjugations of the
verb think present tense think thanks
past tense
thought past participle thought
progressive or continuous tense thinking
think thinks thought thought thinking
okay let’s look at some additional
meanings of the verb think first is to
consider or to reflect on or to ponder
it means consider something carefully or
spend time considering something so
ponder means to think for a long time or
to think hard about something so
consider carefully reflect on examples
can I have a day to think about this
he’s thinking about what to do next
so in these examples sentences can I
have a day to think about this taking
one day to reflect on something like
before you make a decision is a pretty
common thing to do before like a big
decision so can I have a day to think
about this means can I have a day to
consider this carefully or can I have a
day to ponder this in a second example
sentence he’s thinking about what to do
next means he’s considering carefully
his next step he’s considering carefully
what he should do next
so thinking is used in the progressive
tense here to show that he is currently
at this time considering something
carefully but to consider carefully we
can make shorter and use the verb
thinking he’s thinking about what to do
next okay next is to create something by
thinking or to create something by
considering we usually use this with the
word up
the verb think we thought up so many
crazy party ideas in college she thought
up a plan for product promotion so both
of these example sentences mean to
create something by considering it in
your mind so in the first example
sentence we thought up crazy ideas for
parties in college means we design
something using our brains we considered
something and created an idea we created
something by thinking so to think up
blah blah blah so we thought up crazy
party ideas so we designed crazy party
ideas by thinking about them by
considering things in our minds in the
second example sentence we see the same
meaning but for a business situation she
thought up a plan for product promotion
so in this case past tense she thought
up she designed a plan for product
promotion but when we say designed it
sounds maybe like she planned something
on a computer perhaps when we use she
thought up it means she used her mind
she considered the ideas she had and
created a plan in her mind for promotion
of the product so thought up uses the
mind to create something next is to have
as an expectation to have as an
expectation to expect something I didn’t
think you’d arrive so quickly we thought
it would take a lot longer to finish
dinner so in the first example sentence
we didn’t think you’d arrive so quickly
it means the speaker expects that the
listener would take longer to arrive for
the listener was going to arrive later
than they actually did so the speaker
the speaker in this case had the
expectation that the listener was going
to arrive later so they used the
negative we didn’t think you’d arrive so
quickly so we didn’t think we didn’t
expect you’d arrive so quickly we can
replace the verb think with expect here
and it creates the same meaning the same
nuance really but think sounds a little
bit less formal than expect so we didn’t
think you’d arrive so quickly
the second example sentence is with
I would take a lot longer to finish
dinner again we expected we had the
expectation it would take a lot longer
to finish dinner we can replace the verb
thought past tense with the past tense
expected we expected it would take a lot
longer to finish dinner
so in this way think we’re in past tense
thought is used in exactly the same way
as expected here the next meaning is to
consider suitability to consider
suitability let’s look at some examples
I’ve never thought of him like a manager
we’re thinking of her for a higher
position so in the first sentence I’ve
never thought of him like a manager in
this way thought means I’ve never
understood him to be suitable for the
position of manager that’s a very long
way of explaining this sentence but to
condense everything we use the word
thought I’ve never thought of him as a
manager means I’ve never considered him
to potentially be suitable as a manager
in the second example sentence we’re
thinking of her for a higher position
it means we’re considering whether or
not she is suitable for a higher
position at her job or a higher position
at her company
so in this way thinking in the
progressive tense means we are
considering her suitability for a
position a higher-level position so
you’ll notice that the two example
sentences included here are related to
work you’ll see though that this this
meaning tends to be used a lot with jobs
and mu political positions so kind of
something maybe promotion related so
promotion related or kind of hierarchy
related you’ll often hear this in work
situations employment situations
let’s look at some variations some other
words we can attach to think to create
different meanings first is think better
of think better of think better of means
to reconsider and make a better decision
or make an improved decision it means to
consider something again and change your
decision hopefully to make a an improved
decision examples I wanted to say
something but I thought better of it and
kept my mouth shut will think better of
you if you tell the truth so in both of
these sentences there’s a
reconsideration someone is considering
something again and making an improved
decision because of that reconsideration
so in the first example sentence I
wanted to say something we see in past
tense I wanted to say something but I
thought better of it so it in this case
is the thing I wanted to say in the
first part of the sentence I thought
better of it means I reconsidered it and
decided against my first inclination I
decided not to do the first thing I was
thinking about and I kept my mouth shut
so in this case my mouth remained closed
in other words I reconsidered my initial
action the action I initially wanted to
do in the second sentence will think
better of you if you tell the truth we
see it’s it’s used for future we will
think better of you if you tell the
truth meaning if you tell the truth our
opinion of you will improve we will
think better of you so tell the truth
and will consider you again essentially
and our opinion of you will improve if
you do this the next variation is think
much of think much of this means to have
a positive view of or to approve of
examples
he doesn’t think much of his professor
we didn’t think much of last night’s
dinner we see in the first example
sentence he didn’t think much of his
professor means he didn’t really approve
of his professor or he didn’t have a
very positive view of his professor so a
shorter way to explain that feeling is
he
didn’t think much of his professor in
the second example sentence we didn’t
think much of last night’s dinner this
means again we didn’t really approve of
last night’s dinner or we don’t have a
very positive view or a very positive
opinion of last night’s dinner these are
rather long so we can condense it to we
didn’t think much of last night’s dinner
so I hope that this video helped you
level up your knowledge of how to use
the verb think if you have any questions
or comments or if you know another way
to use the word think please let us know
in the comment section below the video
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for other good things too thanks very
much for watching this episode of know
your verbs and I will see you again soon
oh I think that your thought about my
thought is the thinking thought what
this episode is I’m thinking about
summer