penser

French

Etymology

Via Old and Middle French, borrowed from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin (deprecated template usage) pensāre, present active infinitive of (deprecated template usage) pēnsō. See also the inherited doublet Template:term/t.

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  audio

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• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /pɑ̃se/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Homophones: pansé, pansée, pansées, pansés, panser, pansez, pensé, pensée, pensées, pensés, pensez

Verb

penser

1. to think

   Je veux être d'accord avec toi, mais je ne pense pas que nous avons besoin de son aide.

   I want to agree with you, but I don't think we need his help.

Usage notes

• Penser is commonly construed in one of the following ways:
  • "penser que proposition" — "to think (that) clause". (Note: The que is mandatory.)
    • "Je pense qu'il est parti." — "I think (that) he's left."
    • "Je ne pense pas qu'il soit parti." — "I don't think (that) he's left."
  • "penser à substantif" — "to think about noun".
    • "Je pense à mon frère." — "I'm thinking about my brother."
    • "Je pense à elle." — "I'm thinking about her." (Not *"Je lui pense.")
  • "penser adverbe [especially bien=well, mal=ill] de substantif" — "to think adverb of noun". (Note: in questions, the adverb is represented by que, not by comment as might be expected.)
    • "Je pense très bien de lui." — "I think very well of him."
    • "Qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?" — "What do you think of it?"
  • "penser infinitif" — "to think one will bare infinitive".
    • "Je pense y aller demain." — "I think I'll go there tomorrow."
  • "penser à infinitif" — "to think about gerund".
    • "Je pense à y aller demain." — "I'm thinking about going there tomorrow."

Derived terms

• pensable
• pensée
• penseur, penseuse
• repenser

Anagrams

• repens

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Jèrriais

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  (deprecated template usage) penser, borrowed from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  (deprecated template usage) pēnsō, pēnsāre. Compare also Template:term/t.

Verb

1. to think
   • Template:quote-news

     Trop d'couques gâtent la soupe sans doute, et ché s'sait mus d'penser coumme tchi agrandi la pâte ou affêtchi la soupe au run d'hèrtchîngni tréjous pouor la manniéthe d'la cop'thie, ou la manniéthe dé couté ou d'dréch'rêsse.

     Too many cooks no doubt spoil the broth, and it'd be better to think about how to make the pie bigger or thicken the soup instead of always arguing over how to carry out the cutting or what type of knife or ladle to use.

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) pēnser

1. (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present passive subjunctive of pēnsō

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Middle French

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French, borrowed from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin (deprecated template usage) pensāre, present active infinitive of (deprecated template usage) pēnsō.

Verb

penser

1. to think; to reflect
2. to think (have an opinion)

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of penser

infinitive	simple	penser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	pensant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		pensé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	pense	penses	pense	pensons	pensez	pensent
	imperfect	pensois, pensoys	pensois, pensoys	pensoit, pensoyt	pensions, pensyons	pensiez, pensyez	pensoient, pensoyent
	past historic	pensa	pensas	pensa	pensasmes	pensastes	penserent
	future	penserai, penseray	penseras	pensera	penserons	penserez	penseront
	conditional	penserois, penseroys	penserois, penseroys	penseroit, penseroyt	penserions, penseryons	penseriez, penseryez	penseroient, penseroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	pense	penses	pense	pensons	pensez	pensent
	imperfect	pensasse	pensasses	pensast	pensassions	pensassiez	pensassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	pense	—	pensons	pensez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

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Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin (deprecated template usage) pensāre, present active infinitive of (deprecated template usage) pēnsō. Compare the doublet Template:term/t.

Verb

penser

1. to think

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of penser (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		penser			avoir pensé
gerund		en pensant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		pensant
past participle		pensé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	pense	penses	pense	pensons	pensez	pensent
	imperfect	pensoie, penseie, pensoe, penseve	pensoies, penseies, pensoes, penseves	pensoit, penseit, pensot, penseve	pensiiens, pensiens	pensiiez, pensiez	pensoient, penseient, pensoent, pensevent
	preterite	pensai	pensas	pensa	pensames	pensastes	penserent
	future	penserai	penseras	pensera	penserons	penseroiz, pensereiz, penserez	penseront
	conditional	penseroie, pensereie	penseroies, pensereies	penseroit, pensereit	penseriiens, penseriens	penseriiez, penseriez	penseroient, pensereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	pense	penses	pense	pensons	pensez	pensent
	imperfect	pensasse	pensasses	pensast	pensissons, pensissiens	pensissoiz, pensissez, pensissiez	pensassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	pense	—	pensons	pensez	—

Descendants

• Dutch: peinzen (borrowed)
• French: penser