Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "think" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

думать

Meaning: think, consider, believe, reflect, ponder, to be concerned (about)

Pronunciation: [DOO-maht']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #106 (see frequency list)

Example sentences:

Я думаю о тебе.
I think about you. (informal)
Способны ли машины думать?
Can machines think?
О чём ты думаешь?
What are you thinking about? (informal)
Раньше люди думали, что Земля плоская.
People used to believe that the Earth was flat.
Он думает открыть свой бизнес.
He thinks of starting his own business.
Они не думали отступать.
They had no intention to retreat.
Даже не думай!
Don't even think about that!
Я думаю, что ты прав.
I think you are right. (addressing a male informally)
Я думаю что вам пора домой.
I think it is time for you to go home.
Я подумаю об этом.
I'll think about it. (I’ll think it over.)
Она думает только о себе.
She thinks only of herself.
Я тоже так думаю!
I think so too!
Вы думали на меня, но это был кто-то другой.
You suspected me but it was somebody else.
Как ты ду́маешь, кто выиграет?
Who do you think will win?
Я не ду́мала, что э́то ва́жно.
I didn't think that it was important. (said by a female)
Если человек научился думать, -- про что бы он ни думал, -- он всегда думает о своей смерти.
If a person learns how to think, whatever he thinks about, he always thinks about his death. (Leo Tolstoy)

Idioms and set expressions:

не долго думая = without a moment's thought
много о себе думать = to have a high opinion of oneself; to think a lot of oneself
не думаю = I doubt it; I don't think so
кто бы мог подумать = I would never have thought it
И не думаю! = Nothing of the kind!
Не, ну а ты что ду́маешь? = Well, what did you want? (informal)

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	ду́маю
you (singular)	ду́маешь
he, she, it	ду́мает
we	ду́маем
you (plural)	ду́маете
they	ду́мают

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	ду́мал
she	ду́мала
it	ду́мало
we, you (plural), they	ду́мали

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb думать is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb подумать instead.

Future Compound Tense

I	буду ду́мать
you (singular)	будешь ду́мать
he, she, it	будет ду́мать
we	будем ду́мать
you (plural)	будете ду́мать
they	будут ду́мать

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	ду́май
you (plural)	ду́майте

View full conjugation table for the verb pair думать/подумать

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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