Teach Us, Teacher

TO OMOIMASU (Lesson 39)

When you express your ideas, opinions or guesses, first you say what you think, then you say TO OMOIMASU (I think that, more literally, That is what I think).

OMOIMASU is a verb that means (to think).Before it, we add the particle TO. Before TO OMOIMASU (I think that), you use the plain form of verbs, such as the dictionary form or the TA-form. You learned about the plain form in Lesson 26.

For example, let’s make a sentence that means "I think she will come." "She" is KANOJO. For "to come," we use its dictionary form, KURU. So, you say KANOJO WA KURU (She will come). After that, you say TO OMOIMASU (I think that). Altogether, you say KANOJO WA KURU TO OMOIMASU (I think she will come).

If I-adjectives come before TO OMOIMASU, they don’t change. So, how do you say "I think she is beautiful"?
"Beautiful" is UTSUKUSHII, an I-adjective. So, the answer is KANOJO WA UTSUKUSHII TO OMOIMASU.

If nouns or NA-adjectives come before TO OMOIMASU, all you have to do is to say DA after them. Then, how do you say "I think it is convenient"?
"It" is SORE. "Convenient" is BENRI, a NA-adjective. So, you put DA after it, and say BENRI DA. Now, you get SORE WA BENRI DA (it is convenient). After this, you add TO OMOIMASU (I think that). Altogether, you say SORE WA BENRI DA TO OMOIMASU (I think it is convenient).