July 18, 2010 Penser () vs.

Penser (que)

FrenchtasticPeople.com

Penser is a French verb that belongs to the 1st group (ER-verbs). Its literal meaning in English is to think. Penser is very much used in daily conversations, but it can sometimes lead to some confusion for non-native French speakers. One common mistake, for example, is to misspell it. Penser with an emeans to think. Panser with an a means to dress (a wound). Penser and Panser are both pronounced the same way, and thats why you should make sure to know their respective spellings. In this quick tutorial, I would like to explain two important uses of penser: penser and penser que. In case youre wondering, in penser is a preposition and here, it means about. Que in penser que is a relative pronoun and it means that. Generally, penser que will be followed by another clause (see example further below). Penser to think about: A few examples where you can see penser at work: Je pense toi I think about you. Nous pensons ce problme tout le temps We think about this problem all the time. Anne est en voyage, mais elle pense aux enfants. Anne is on a trip, but she is thinking about the children. Penser queto think that: A few examples where you can see penser que at work: Je pense que vous avez raison I think that you are right. Nous pensons que ce problme est difficile We think that this problem is difficult. Anne pense que ses voisins sont sympas. Anne thinks that her neighbors are nice.

To conclude, lets conjugate the verb penser in the simple present. je pense tu penses il/elle/on pense nous pensons vous pensez ils/elles pensent

I hope you enjoyed this quick lesson on penser and penser que. Make sure to obtain the audio files of the examples listed here at FrenchtasticPeople.com . Merci, et bientt.

Herman