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Okay I’ve now read about how I say “I think…” with they 「と思う」-concept. (I’ve learnt the 「と言う」-concept which is almost the same).
One sentence example is:
「ボビーさん は とうきょう に いった と 思う」 = “I think Bobby went to Tokyo”
Another example I remember I found on lang-8 is.
『大半の日本人は緑色の信号を「青」と言います』 = “Almost all Japanese say that the green traffic light is blue”How can I know whether the think before the は is related to the verb in the end (思う or 言います), or the verb in the sentence?
And formulated in another way: How can I know whether the first sentence means “I think Bobby went to Tokyo” or “Bobby think someone went to Tokyo”?For one, when speaking of someone else, you should always use 思っている. I never really got a good reason why.
Second, context.Third, (and this is kind of a guess) but I would say that you are not as likely to say that Bobby is thinking something, since you can’t look into his minds and see for yourself. If he told you what he thinks, then say “He said…” 「ボビーさんは（誰かが）東京に行ったと言いました。」
Okay, thank you.
For one, when speaking of someone else, you should always use 思っている. I never really got a good reason why.
Because you can’t put thoughts in other peoples’ heads. It’s the same reason that ほしい becomes ほしがっている when you’re talking about someone else. A good bit of Japanese grammar is all about who you can emphasise with and who you can’t.
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