How to “think” in Norwegian?

In every Norwegian course I teach, sooner or later the question of how to say “I think …” in Norwegian comes up. It is not so obvious, because in Norwegian there are as many as four verbs that can be translated into Polish using the word “I think”.

Å tenke – tenker – tenkte – har tenkt
The verb å tenke is used when we want to say that we are thinking about something or about someone, something or someone is concerned with our attention.

Examples:
Jeg tenker på deg. (I think about you.)
Hva tenker du på? (What are you thinking?)
Jeg tenker på det du sa. (I think about what you said)

Å tro – tror – trodde – har trodd
With this verb we express our assumption on a certain topic in situations that we are not able to fully predict, which we are almost sure of …

Examples:
Jeg tror det blir regn i morgen. (I think / I think it will rain tomorrow.)
Jeg tror at det er en god film , men jeg har ikke sett den. (I suppose it’s a good movie, but I haven’t seen it). Note, if we want to use the verb å tro at the end of a sentence, we have to remember about inversion. Eg: Jeg er ferdig klokka to, tror jeg. (I think I’ll end at two.)
In the past tense we say: Jeg trodde at han var høyere. (I thought he was taller.)
Å tro also has a second meaning, namely – believe. Ex: Jeg tror på Gud. (I believe in God.)

Å synes – synes – syntes – har syntes
The verb å synes is often confused with å tr o, both can be I translate Polish as I think, but we use each in a different situation. Å synes as opposed to å tro we use when we want to express our opinion, our opinion on a given topic, resulting from personal experience, when we are sure about something. It means to be careful, to believe.

Examples:
Jeg synes det er en god idé. (I think it’s a good idea). Jeg synes filmen er bra. (I think it’s a good movie.).

Å mene – mener – mente – har ment
This verb can be used as a synonym, a substitute for å synes (i.e. be careful, plant), however it is used a little less often. For example, we can ask: Hva mener du om dette? or Hva synes du om dette? and both of these questions will mean What do you think ?.

Å mene also has two additional meanings, the first: to mean, e.g. Jeg forstår ikke hva du mener. (I don’t know what you mean) and the second : to have an intention, eg: Han mente ikke å såre deg . (He didn’t mean to hurt you.)

To sum up:
Å tenke på – think about
Å tro – seem, suppose or believe
Å synes – consider, believe
Å mene – believe, believe, mean or have an intention

Related phrases
Finally, I would like to mention a few frequently used phrases / words where the above verbs or their derivatives appear.

En tanke – Think
Jeg har tenkt – I’m going to
Tenk deg… – Imagine…

Jeg tror ikke mine egne øyne. – I can’t believe my eyes.
Deter ikke til å tro. – It’s unbelievable.
Å miste troen. – To lose faith.

Et synspunkt – Point of view

En mening – Opinion / View
Etter min mening – In my opinion / In my opinion

I hope this article will help you express your thoughts, opinions and views in Norwegian correctly 🙂