I think therefore I am

English

Etymology

First expressed in French by René Descartes, a 17th century French philosopher. Calque of French je pense, donc je suis.

Phrase

I think therefore I am

1. (philosophy) I am able to think, therefore I exist. A philosophical proof of existence based on the fact that someone capable of any form of thought necessarily exists.

Usage notes

• Subject to many humorous variations, such as I drink therefore I am, I speak therefore I am, or I shop therefore I am.

Translations

philosophical proof of existence

• Albanian: mendoj, pra jam
• Arabic: أُفَكِّر، إِذَن أَنَا مَوْجُود (ʔufakkir, ʔiḏan ʔanā mawjūd), أُفَكِّر، إِذَن أُوجَد (ʔufakkir, ʔiḏan ʔūjad)

  Egyptian Arabic: بفكّر فموجود (bafakkar famawgūd)

• Armenian: մտածում եմ, ուրեմն կամ (mtacum em, uremn kam)
• Breton: prederian, hiviziken me on
• Catalan: penso, llavors existeixo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 我思故我在 (ngo⁵ si¹ gu³ ngo⁵ zoi⁶)

  Mandarin: 我思故我在 (wǒ sī gù wǒ zài)

• Czech: myslím, tedy jsem
• Danish: jeg tænker, derfor er jeg
• Dutch: ik denk, dus ik ben
• Esperanto: mi pensas tial mi estas
• Estonian: mõtlen, järelikult olen
• Finnish: ajattelen, siis olen
• French: je pense donc je suis
• Galician: penso, logo existo, penso, polo tanto, existo
• Georgian: ვაზროვნებ მაშასადამე ვარსებობ (vazrovneb mašasadame varsebob)
• German: ich denke, also bin ich
• Greek: σκέπτομαι, άρα υπάρχω (sképtomai, ára ypárcho)
• Gujarati: હું ચંતવું ક્રિવિ હું છું (hũ cantvũ krivi hũ chũ)
• Hebrew: אני חושב משמע אני קיים (aní ḥoshév, mashmá' aní qayám)
• Hindi: मैं सोचता हूँ इसलिए मैं हूँ m (ma͠i soctā hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃), मैं सोचती हूँ इसलिए मैं हूँ f (ma͠i soctī hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃)
• Hungarian: gondolkodom, tehát vagyok
• Icelandic: ég hugsa, þess vegna er ég
• Ido: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: saya berpikir, maka saya ada
• Italian: penso dunque sono
• Japanese: 我思う、故に我在り (ware omou, yue ni ware ari)
• Khmer: ខ្ញុំគិតថា ហេតុដូច្នេះហើយខ្ញុំមាន (kɲom kɨt, haet doocneh haəy kɲom mien)
• Korean: 생각한다 고로 존재한다 (saenggakhanda goro jonjaehanda)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: please add this translation if you can

• Lao: ຂ້ອຍຄິດວ່າສະນັ້ນຂ້ອຍ (khǭi khit wā sa nan khǭi)
• Latin: cōgitō, ergō sum
• Lithuanian: mąstau, vadinasi, esu
• Macedonian: мислам, значи постојам (mislam, znači postojam)
• Marathi: मी आहे म्हणून विचार (mī āhe mhaṇūn vicār)
• Mongolian: би сэтгэж байгаа учраас оршиж байна (bi setgež bajgaa učraas oršiž bajna)

  Mongolian: ᠪᠢ
  ᠰᠡᠳᠭᠢᠵᠤ
  ᠪᠠᠶᠢᠭ᠎ᠠ
  ᠤᠴᠢᠷ ᠠᠴᠠ
  ᠣᠷᠤᠰᠢᠵᠤ
  ᠪᠠᠶᠢᠨ᠎ᠠ (bi sedgiǰu bayig-a učir-ača orusiǰu bayin-a)

• Navajo: ntséskees, áko, bee ʼáníshtʼé
• Norwegian Bokmål: jeg tenker, derfor er jeg
• Norwegian Nynorsk: eg tenkjer, derfor er eg
• Occitan: pensi, per consequéncia soi
• Old Church Slavonic: мꙑшлѭ оубо есмь (myšljǫ ubo esmĭ)
• Polish: myślę, więc jestem
• Portuguese: penso, logo existo
• Romanian: cuget, deci exist
• Russian: мы́слю, сле́довательно, существу́ю (mýslju, slédovatelʹno, suščestvúju), я мы́слю, сле́довательно, я есмь (ja mýslju, slédovatelʹno, ja jesmʹ)
• Sanskrit: अहं ध्यायाम्यतः अस्मि (ahaṃ dhyāyāmyataḥ asmi)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мислим, дакле постојим, мислим, дакле јесам

  Roman: mislim, dakle postojim, mislim, dakle jesam

• Shona: ndinofunga, saka ndinorarama
• Slovak: myslím, teda som
• Slovene: mislim, torej sem
• Spanish: pienso, luego existo, pienso, por lo tanto, existo
• Swedish: jag tänker, alltså finns jag
• Tagalog: naiisip ko, samakatuwid ako ay iyon
• Telugu: నేను అనుకుంటున్నాను కలిపించారు (nēnu anukuṇṭunnānu kalipiñcāru)
• Thai: ฉันคิดว่าฉันเป็นดังนั้น
• Turkish: düşünüyorum, öyleyse varım (tr)
• Ukrainian: мислю, отже існую (myslju, otže isnuju), я ми́слю, о́тже я є́сьм (ja mýslju, ótže ja jésʹm)
• Urdu: میں سوچتا ہوں اسلئے میں ہوں m (ma͠i soctā hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃), میں سوچتی ہوں اسلئے میں ہوں f (ma͠i soctī hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃)
• Vietnamese: tôi tư duy, nên tôi tồn tại