# Penser Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Think”

> **Penser** means “to think”. Présent: **je pense, tu penses, il pense, nous pensons, vous pensez, ils pensent** — fully regular. The real difficulty is the preposition: **penser à** is to have something on your mind; **penser de** is to have an opinion of it. They are not interchangeable.

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## Présent — regular throughout

Stem pens- plus the standard -er endings. As always, four of the six forms are one sound.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je pense | I think |
| tu penses | you think |
| il / elle pense | he / she thinks |
| nous pensons | we think |
| vous pensez | you think |
| ils / elles pensent | they think |

## Penser à, penser de, penser que

Three constructions, three jobs. The middle one is the one that goes wrong, because it only ever appears in questions.

| French | Means |  |
|---|---|---|
| je pense à toi | I’m thinking of you | on your mind |
| j’y pense | I’m thinking about it | à + thing → y |
| qu’est-ce que tu penses de ce film ? | what do you think of that film? | asking an opinion |
| j’en pense du bien | I think well of it | de + thing → en |
| je pense que c’est bien | I think it’s good | stating an opinion |

**The asymmetry that catches everyone** — Penser de is used almost exclusively to ask for an opinion. To give one, French switches to penser que. So the answer to qu’est-ce que tu penses de ce film ? is je pense que c’est bien — not je pense de…, which nobody says.

**⚠ The pronouns change with the preposition** — À plus a thing becomes y; de plus a thing becomes en. But à plus a person keeps the stressed pronoun: je pense à elle, never “je lui pense”. Penser is one of a small group of verbs that behave this way.

## Passé composé — pensé

Regular, with avoir: j’ai pensé. Often used for the moment a thought arrived: j’ai pensé à toi, “I thought of you”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ai pensé | I thought / have thought |
| tu as pensé | you thought / have thought |
| il / elle a pensé | he / she thought / have thought |
| nous avons pensé | we thought / have thought |
| vous avez pensé | you thought / have thought |
| ils / elles ont pensé | they thought / have thought |

## Imparfait — the thinking that lasted

Je pensais — and very common as a soft correction: je pensais que…, “I thought that…”, meaning you now know otherwise.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je pensais | I thought / used to think |
| tu pensais | you thought / used to think |
| il / elle pensait | he / she thought / used to think |
| nous pensions | we thought / used to think |
| vous pensiez | you thought / used to think |
| ils / elles pensaient | they thought / used to think |

## Futur and conditionnel

Full infinitive as stem: je penserai.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je penserai | I will think |
| tu penseras | you will think |
| il / elle pensera | he / she will think |
| nous penserons | we will think |
| vous penserez | you will think |
| ils / elles penseront | they will think |

## Conditionnel — would think

Je penserais. Also a gentle way to disagree: je penserais plutôt que…

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je penserais | I would think |
| tu penserais | you would think |
| il / elle penserait | he / she would think |
| nous penserions | we would think |
| vous penseriez | you would think |
| ils / elles penseraient | they would think |

## Subjonctif — and when it is triggered

Penser que in the affirmative takes the indicative — je pense qu’il vient. Made negative or interrogative it expresses doubt and can trigger the subjunctive in the following clause: je ne pense pas qu’il vienne. This is one of the most commonly tested subjunctive triggers in French exams.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je pense | (that) I think |
| tu penses | (that) you think |
| il / elle pense | (that) he / she think |
| nous pensions | (that) we think |
| vous pensiez | (that) you think |
| ils / elles pensent | (that) they think |

## Impératif — think about it

Pense ! with no s. With the pronoun: penses-y — “think about it” — where the s returns for pronunciation before y.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| pense ! | think! (to one person you know) |
| pensons ! | let’s think! |
| pensez ! | think! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had thought

J’avais pensé.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’avais pensé | I had thought |
| tu avais pensé | you had thought |
| il / elle avait pensé | he / she had thought |
| nous avions pensé | we had thought |
| vous aviez pensé | you had thought |
| ils / elles avaient pensé | they had thought |

## FAQ

### How do you conjugate penser in the present tense?

Je pense, tu penses, il / elle pense, nous pensons, vous pensez, ils / elles pensent.

### What is the difference between penser à and penser de?

Penser à is to have something or someone on your mind. Penser de is to have an opinion about it — and it is used almost only in questions.

### How do you answer “qu’est-ce que tu penses de…?”

With penser que: je pense que c’est bien. You do not answer with penser de.

### How do you say “I’m thinking of you” in French?

Je pense à toi. With a person, à keeps the stressed pronoun — never “je te pense”.

### Does penser take the subjunctive?

Not in the affirmative — je pense qu’il vient. But in the negative or in a question it expresses doubt and can trigger it: je ne pense pas qu’il vienne.

## Related guides

- Savoir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/savoir-conjugation
- Parler conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/parler-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides