How to use the Spanish Verb Pensar
The verb Pensar is used to express a conclusion after you have heard the different points of view about a certain topic: Yo pienso que el partido Demócrata tiene una mejor plataforma política en este período. (I think that the Democratic Party has a better political platform this period.)
It is used to mention a habit, an obsession or constant situation a person holds: Algunas personas solo piensan en hacer dinero rápidamente. (Some people only think about making money as fast as possible.)
To state a prediction based on numbers or facts: Roger piensa que su país no ganará un lugar en el próximo mundial de fútbol. (Roger thinks his country will not win a space in the next Soccer World Cup.)
To talk about a memory that came to your mind: Estaba pensando en las vacaciones que pasamos en Venecia. (I was thinking about the holidays we spent in Venice.)
Verbals of Pensar
Verbals are words that need other words in order to be used. No matter the person, tense, number, these words will remain the same (hooray!). The verb Pensar has three verbals: the infinitive, the gerund and the participle. Let’s move on to the examples:
| Verbal | Common Use | Example | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | Pensar (to think / thinking) | Non conjugated / Noun | Pensar en ella todo el día es normal para un enamorado. | To think of her all day long is normal for a lover. |
| Gerund | Pensando (thinking) | Adverb/periphrasis | Sigue pensándolo y alguien más comparará la pieza. | Keep on thinking about it and someone else will buy the stuff. |
| Participle | Pensado (thought) | Adjective | Eso fue pensado por Fibonacci hace más de cien años. | That was thought by Fibonacci more than a hundred years ago. |
Conjugate the Spanish Verb Pensar
Many Spanish teachers, and I include myself, strongly recommend having practical exercises with real conversations to obtain “naturalness” in the way of speaking.
Pensar Conjugation: Indicative Mood
You have to consider the focus that is used when a person is speaking, what the verb or phrase is saying in general, and the most common focus in Spanish is the indicative mood. Although less common, please keep in mind that the auxiliary verb Haber (to have) is an important part of its compound tenses!
Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (think) | (thought) | (thought) | (would think) | (will think) | |
| Yo | pienso | pensé | pensaba | pensaría | pensaré |
| Tú | piensas | pensaste | pensabas | pensarías | pensarás |
| Él/Ella/Usted | piensa | pensó | pensaba | pensaría | pensará |
| Nosotros | pensamos | pensamos | pensábamos | pensaríamos | pensaremos |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | piensan | pensaron | pensaban | pensarían | pensarán |
Some examples:
- Pobre de ti que pensabas que aún sin entrenar podrías ganar el torneo. (Poor you who thought that even without training you could win the tournament.)
- Déjame leer los folletos y lo pensaré por unos días. (Let me read the brochures and I will think about it for a few days.)
Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (have/has thought) | (had thought) | (had thought) | (would have thought) | (will have thought) | |
| Yo | he pensado | hube pensado | había pensado | habría pensado | habré pensado |
| Tú | has pensado | hubiste pensado | habías pensado | habrías pensado | habrás pensado |
| Él/Ella/Usted | ha pensado | hubo pensado | había pensado | habría pensado | habrá pensado |
| Nosotros | hemos pensado | hubimos pensado | habíamos pensado | habrían pensado | habremos pensado |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | han pensado | hubieron pensado | habían pensado | habrían pensado | habrán pensado |
Pensar Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood
With this mood, we hypothesize or express our wishes. The number of verb tenses is reduced, being divided equally into simple and compound.
Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | piense | pensara | pensase | pensare |
| Tú | pienses | pensaras | pensases | pensares |
| Él/Ella/Usted | piense | pensara | pensase | pensare |
| Nosotros | pensemos | pensáramos | pensásemos | pensáremos |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | piensen | pensaran | pensasen | pensaren |
More examples:
- Si usted pensara que nuestra calidad es mala, no estaría hoy aquí. (If you thought our quality was bad, you would not be here today.)
- La idea de la campaña publicitaria es hacer que los niños piensen en nuestros dulces día y noche. (The idea of the publicity campaign is to have the children think of our candies night and day.)
Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya pensado | hubiera pensado | hubiese pensado | hubiere pensado |
| Tú | hayas pensado | hubieras pensado | hubieses pensado | hubieres pensado |
| Él/Ella/Usted | haya pensado | hubiera pensado | hubiese pensado | hubiere pensado |
| Nosotros | hayamos pensado | hubiéramos pensado | hubiésemos pensado | hubiéremos pensado |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | hayan pensado | hubieran pensado | hubiesen pensado | hubieren pensado |
Pensar Conjugation: Imperative Mood
We enter the last mood you are going to memorize, with fewer people to learn (fortunately): the bossy (or Imperative) mood. With this conjugation, you can express orders. And since you can’t order yourself or a third party, you will only learn 3 persons and 1 verb tense. Possible uses of the Imperative mood? Children, pets, or that roomie who won’t stop eating your stuff.
Imperative Mood’s Conjugations
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| (think / let's think) | (don't think / let's not think) | |
| Tú | piensa | no pienses |
| Nosotros | pensemos | no pensemos |
| Ustedes | piensen | no piensen |
Examples:
Pensemos en todos los beneficios que esta autopista traerá a la comunidad. (Let’s think about the benefits this highway will bring to the community.)
Será mejor que no pienses cosas malas antes de que pasen. (It would be better if you don´t think of bad things before they happen.)
Verb Pensar – Quiz/Worksheet
As I mentioned before, practicing will be your best ally in mastering Spanish, and since our goal is to help you, we will leave you some sentences to review what we have learned in this lesson. Fill in the correct conjugation in the spaces below:
- Lo ___________________ dos veces antes de casarte con ella. (You should had thought about it twice before marrying her.)
- No puedo dejar de ____________ en el accidente, me afectó mucho. (I can not stop thinking about the accident, it affected me a lot.)
- _________________ en perder, solo en ganar. (Do not think about losing, only about winning)
- ____________ todos por un momento en las repercusiones económicas de esta fusión. (Let’s think for a moment about the economic repercussions of this merger.)
- Si lo ______________________ un poco más, habríamos viajado en avión. (If we had thought about it a little more, we would have traveled by plane.)
- Nunca __________ mal de mis amigos hasta que los escuché hablando mal de mí. (I would had never thought badly of my friends until I heard them speaking ill of me.)
- No lo ______________ dos veces y compramos la villa en Madrid. (We did not think it twice and bought the villa in Madrid.)
- Después de la entrevista _________ que me contratarían. (After the interview I thought they would hire me.)
- Que ella ____________ eso de mí fue devastador. (That she would think that of me was devastating.)
- Para cuando llegue a Nebraska, ya lo _______________ mejor. (The moment I arrive to Nebraska I would have thought about it better.)
Answers
Here you can confirm if you got the answers right, remember that it’s okay to make mistakes, don’t lose sleep over a few mistakes, keep practicing every day!
- Hubieras pensado
- Pensar
- No pienses
- Pensemos
- Hubiésemos pensado
- Habría pensado
- Pensamos
- Pensé
- Pensara
- Habré pensado
A word to the wise
No digas lo que piensas, pero piensa lo que dices: the title of this class gives us a game of words about not to say what you think, but to think about what you say. The general idea means keeping quiet about certain things, as sometimes it is not necessary to speak. You can wait to give an opinion later, but if you are going to talk about it anyway, you better think very hard about the consequences of your opinion.
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