penser

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French penser, from Old French penser, from Latin pēnsāre, whence also the doublet peser, as well as panser, originally an alternative spelling which acquired a special sense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑ̃.se/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: pansé, pansée, pansées, pansés, panser, pansez, pensé, pensée, pensées, pensés, pensez

Verb

penser

1. (intransitive) to think, reflect, concentrate one's mind on something [late 10th century in Passion, ed. D'Arco Silvio Avalle, 55]

   penser tout haut ― to think aloud

   • 1845, Alexandre Dumas, La Reine Margot, vol. I, chap. 4:

     Je suis incapable de rassembler deux idées ; votre vue m’a ébloui. Je ne pense plus, j’admire.

     I am unable to unite two ideas; your aspect has dazzled my mind. I am not thinking anything any longer, I admire.

   • 1932, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Voyage au bout de la nuit:

     Vous n’êtes pas venu ici pour penser, mais pour faire les gestes qu’on vous commandera d’exécuter… Nous n’avons pas besoin d’imaginatifs dans notre usine. C’est de chimpanzés dont nous avons besoin…

     You're not here in order to think, but to do the movements one has told you to perform… We don't need any visionaries in our factory. It's chimpanzees we need…

   • 1992, David E. Walker, “La pauvreté de la foi”, dans Le Québec sceptique, n° 21 (hiver 1992), p. 32:

     Ma tâche vise davantage à leur enseigner comment penser et non que penser. J’espère ainsi que lorsqu’ils auront appris à penser, mes élèves pourront réfléchir par eux-mêmes plutôt que de laisser les autres le faire à leur place.

     My task is rather aimed at teaching them how to think, not what to think. Having said that, I hope that, when they have learned to think, my pupils will be able to reflect by themselves rather than let others do it in their stead.

2. (intransitive) to think, imagine, believe [late 10th century in Passion, 339]

   Vous n’en êtes pas où vous pensez.

   You are not where you think you are.

   Il y a, je pense, dix kilomètres de chez vous chez moi.

   It is ten kilometres, I think, from your place to my place.

   J’irai vous voir demain, je pense.

   I will come and see you tomorrow, I suppose.

   La chose n’est pas si facile qu’on le pense.

   The thing is not as simple as one might believe.

   Je ne pensais pas que vous vous méprendriez sur le sens de mes paroles.

   I didn't imagine you would fail to grasp the meaning of what I said.

   • 1999, Amélie Nothomb, Stupeur et tremblements, Éditions Albin Michel S. A., p. 11:

     Je pensai que j’avais été trop aimable ou familière avec Adam Johnson et je rédigeai un texte froid et distant: […].

     I believed I had been too amiable or familiar with Adam Johnson, so I drafted a cold and distant text: […]

3. (originally with a que sentence) to be of the opinion that, believe [1155 in Wace, Brut, ed. I. Arnold, 263]

   Je pensais qu’il était de vos amis.

   I thought he was a friend.

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

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

   Je pense comme vous.

   I agree with your view.

   Il ne dit rien qu’il ne pense.

   He doesn't say anything he doesn't believe.

   Dites librement ce que vous pensez.

   Cavalierly state your opinion.

   J’espère qu’il ne pense pas ce qu’il dit.

   I hope he doesn't believe what he is saying.

   Faites-moi connaître votre façon de penser.

   Tell me how you think about it.

   Pensez-vous ?

   Do you really believe that?

   (1935, punning at the interlocutor's lack of belief in his own statement)

   • 1945, Fernand Mitton, La Presse française, vol. 2, chez Guy Le Prat, p. 172:

     Cette feuille ne craignait pas de dire ce qu’elle pensait, même aux personnages les plus hauts placés.

     This gazette wasn't afraid to say what it thought, even to persons of the highest ranks.

4. (intransitive) to be absorbed by a worry or depressing thoughts [ca. 1160 in Éneas, ed. J.-J. Salverda de Grave, 2221]
5. (intransitive) to conceive a project [c. 1160 in Éneas, 1692]
6. (with de + object) to evoke the image or remembrance of someone in one's mind [ca. 1160 in Éneas, 1223]

   penser d’aucun ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

7. (with à + object) to attach one's thinking to someone, especially lovingly [ca. 1165 in Troie, 17621 ds T.-L.]

   Pensez à moi. ― Think of me.

   Il ne pense qu’à celle qu’il aime.

   He thinks only of his beloved.

8. (with infinitive) to believe being or doing something [ca. 1165 in Troie, 29997 ds T.-L.]

   Il pense être plus habile que les autres.

   He believes he is smarter than others.

   Il ne pensait pas être observé.

   He didn't think he was being observed.

   J’ai pensé mourir.

   I thought I was going to die.

   • 1817, Marquise Donnissan de Larochejaquelein, Mémoires, L.-G. Michaud, Paris, chap. II, p. 33:

     Le lendemain pensa nous être funeste.

     The other day was to be baleful for us. (Note: This impersonal use, even if in use by the classics, is criticized as improper.)

9. (with mal or bien + de + object) to think well or badly, to have a high or low opinion of someone [c. 1170 in Beroul, Tristan, ed. E. Muret, 110]

   C’est un homme qui pense toujours mal des autres.

   He is a man who always thinks badly of others.

   Je ne pense de cette affaire ni bien ni mal.

   I am indifferent to this affair.

   (literally, “I don't think either well or badly of this affair.”)

   Que pensez-vous de cet homme ?

   What do you think about this man?

10. (with de + infinitive) to try or prepare to do something [1160–74 in Wace, Rou, ed. A. J. Holden, III, 10814]

    penser de faire quelque chose ― to be thinking of doing something

11. (transitive, reflexive, obsolete) to reflect on something [late 11th century in Roland, ed. J. Bédier, 355]

    soi penser quelque chose ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

12. (with à + object) to bear, keep something in mind, to consider something [c. 1200 in Poème moral, 161a]

    Le mal vient sans qu’on y pense.

    Evil comes without one thinking of it.

    faire ou dire une chose sans penser à mal

    to do or say something without meaning to harm

    À quoi pensez-vous ?

    What are you thinking?

    • 1393, G. E. Brereton, J. M. Ferrier, editors, Ménagier, I, VI, p. 78:

      Penser à mal.

      To have a bad intention.

    • 2011, Umberto Eco, Le cimetière de Prague, traduit de l'italien par Jean-Noël Schifano, ed. Grasset, chap. 6:

      Rebaudengo était une fripouille et, si je pense à tout ce que j’ai fait après, j’ai l’impression de n’avoir fait des fripouilleries qu’à des fripouilles.

      Rebaudengo was a rascal, and if I think of all the things I have done afterwards, I am under the impression of not having played tricks but to rascals.

13. (with infinitive) to intend to do, aim at doing something [ca. 1200 in Hist. Joseph, 299 ds T.-L.]

    Je pensais aller vous voir.

    I fancied paying you a visit.

    Que pensez-vous faire ?

    What do you intend to do?

14. (transitive) to have something in one's mind (c. 1220 in Barlaam et Josaphat, ed. C. Appel, 5623)

    C’est un homme qui ne dit jamais ce qu’il pense.

    He's a man who never says what he thinks.

    Il pense beaucoup de choses qu’il ne dit pas.

    He thinks a lot of things he doesn't say.

15. (with à + infinitive) to intend to do, aim to do something [1306 in Joinville, ed. N. L. Corbett, § 612]

    À quoi pensez-vous de vous conduire ainsi ?

    What are you playing at by behaving like this?

    Je suis trop de vos amis pour avoir pensé à vous nuire.

    I am too much your friend to think of harming you.

    Je pensais à aller vous voir hier.

    I considered visiting you yesterday.

16. (with mal, obsolete) to intend to do something bad [15th century in Isopet III de Paris, ed. J. Bastin, vol. 2, p. 401]

    penser mal ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

17. (with à + object) to take care of [from 1636, in Monet]

    Il nous a reçus admirablement, il a pensé à tout.

    He has welcomed us admirably, he has thought of everything.

18. (with bien, in politics, religion, moral) to have opinions in accordance with the agreed principles [1823, in Courier]

    bien penser ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

19. (with adverb or adverbial expression) to have a certain intellectual tendency, preference or property

    penser finement, noblement, singulièrement, hardiment

    to think finely, nobly, in a singular way, boldly

    penser avec justesse. ― to think with accuracy

    penser juste ― to think in the right way, to be right-thinking

Usage notes

Today penser is commonly construed in one of the following ways:

• "penser que proposition" — "to think (that) clause". (Note: The que is mandatory.)

When penser is in the negative or interrogative, the clause after que takes a verb in the subjunctive. If it is in the affirmative, it takes the indicative. In spoken French, the interrogative also tends to be followed by the indicative.

• "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."

Conjugation

Conjugation of penser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	penser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	pensant /pɑ̃.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		pensé /pɑ̃.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	pense /pɑ̃s/2	penses /pɑ̃s/	pense /pɑ̃s/	pensons /pɑ̃.sɔ̃/	pensez /pɑ̃.se/	pensent /pɑ̃s/
	imperfect	pensais /pɑ̃.sɛ/	pensais /pɑ̃.sɛ/	pensait /pɑ̃.sɛ/	pensions /pɑ̃.sjɔ̃/	pensiez /pɑ̃.sje/	pensaient /pɑ̃.sɛ/
	past historic3	pensai /pɑ̃.se/	pensas /pɑ̃.sa/	pensa /pɑ̃.sa/	pensâmes /pɑ̃.sam/	pensâtes /pɑ̃.sat/	pensèrent /pɑ̃.sɛʁ/
	future	penserai /pɑ̃.sʁe/	penseras /pɑ̃.sʁa/	pensera /pɑ̃.sʁa/	penserons /pɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/	penserez /pɑ̃.sʁe/	penseront /pɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	penserais /pɑ̃.sʁɛ/	penserais /pɑ̃.sʁɛ/	penserait /pɑ̃.sʁɛ/	penserions /pɑ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	penseriez /pɑ̃.sə.ʁje/	penseraient /pɑ̃.sʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior3	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	pense /pɑ̃s/2	penses /pɑ̃s/	pense /pɑ̃s/	pensions /pɑ̃.sjɔ̃/	pensiez /pɑ̃.sje/	pensent /pɑ̃s/
	imperfect3	pensasse /pɑ̃.sas/	pensasses /pɑ̃.sas/	pensât /pɑ̃.sa/	pensassions /pɑ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/	pensassiez /pɑ̃.sa.sje/	pensassent /pɑ̃.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect3	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	pense /pɑ̃s/	—	pensons /pɑ̃.sɔ̃/	pensez /pɑ̃.se/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 pensé when inverted.
3 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• bien pensant
• je ne pense pas
• je pense bien
• maître à penser
• panser
• pensable
• pensée
• penser avec sa bite
• penseur
• penseuse
• repenser
• surpenser

 

Further reading

• “penser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• repens

Latin

Verb

pēnser

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of pēnsō

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French penser, from Latin pensāre.

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).

Norman

Alternative forms

• pensaïr (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French penser, from Latin pensāre (“ponder, consider”). Compare also p'ser.

Verb

penser

1. (Jersey) to think
   • 2013 March, Geraint Jennings, “Mar martello”, in The Town Crier‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 March 2016, page 20:

     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.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pensāre. Compare the doublet peser.

Verb

penser

1. to think

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-st are modified to s, st. 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	pens	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	pens	pens	penst	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
• Middle French: penser
  • French: penser
• Norman: penser, pensaïr
• Walloon: pinser

Noun

penser oblique singular, m (oblique plural pensers, nominative singular pensers, nominative plural penser)

1. thought

Synonyms

• (thought): pensee (common), pensé, pensement