Expressions with the word think

Here is a list of idiomatic expressions using the word think.

Thinking of / about something

When you are thinking of / about something, you are considering it, but you have not made a decision yet.

I am thinking of writing a novel.

She is thinking about moving into a bigger home.

Note that after thinking of/about, we use an –ing form or a noun.

Can’t think straight

When you can’t think straight, you are unable to think clearly.

She was utterly confused and couldn’t think straight.

Don’t even think about / of it

This expression is used to discourage someone from doing something.

‘Mummy, can I wear that skirt to the party?’ ‘Don’t even think about it.’

Do you think…?

This expression is used to politely ask someone to do something.

Do you think you could help me lift this box?

I can’t hear myself think

When you can’t hear yourself think, there is too much noise.

‘Will you turn that music down? I can’t hear myself think.’

You have another think coming

This expression is used to suggest that what you think is wrong.

If he thinks I will lend him the money, he has another think coming. (= He is wrong. I am not going to lend him any money.)

I thought as much

Use this expression to suggest that you are not surprised that something is true.

‘Susie has called off her wedding to Mark.’ ‘I thought as much. He wasn’t the right guy for her.’ (= I am not surprised that she has called off her wedding.)

I wasn’t thinking / I didn’t think

This expression is used for saying that you have upset someone.

I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I wasn’t thinking.

Источник

Native English speakers love to use expressions to show how they feel and think. In this lesson, I will teach you 12 common expressions that use the verb think. Some examples include It’s later than you think, Don’t think better of it, Don’t think twice, and think big. Watch the video to add some useful expressions to your English. You will think the world of this lesson!

SUBTITLES:

0:00:01 Hi. I’m Gill at www.engvid.com and today we’regoing to have a look at some expressions
0:00:09 using the word «think». Okay?
0:00:12 We’ve already had the lessonon the use of «think».
0:00:16 This is more to do with expressionsnow, particular meanings.
0:00:21 So, let’s have a look at the first example.And if you say: «What was I thinking?!» or
0:00:31 «What were you thinking?!»
0:00:33 and especially if you have aquestion mark and an exclamation
0:00:37 mark afterwards-«What was I thinking?!Why did I do that?»,
0:00:43 «Why did you do that?What were you thinking?!»
0:00:47 -it’s like a criticism either ofyourself or someone else because
0:00:52 of something they have done.
0:00:54 «Why did they do that? It was stupid.What were you thinking?! Oh, dear.»
0:01:02 Don’t do it again, whatever it was. Okay,so that’s a very useful expression.
0:01:08 But you have to be a bit careful, though, howyou use it. Be careful who you criticize.
0:01:14 Uh-huh. Okay.
0:01:17 Next one, this is somebody who thinkstoo much without doing anything, so:
0:01:23 «She tends to overthink things.»
0:01:27 Meaning she thinks about doing thingsor she dwells on things too much,
0:01:34 maybe she gets a little bit depressed becauseshe thinks too much. Too much thinking, not
0:01:42 enough action is not always a good thing.It depends what the action is, of course.
0:01:48 But: «She tends to overthink things.» Andthe more you think about something, maybe
0:01:54 the harder it is to actually doit, so you need a balance. Okay?
0:02:01 Now, this is about somebody’s opinion of themselves.So: «He thinks of himself as a great artist.»
0:02:13 Okay? So he’s not very modest. He’s an artist,he paints paintings maybe, and he thinks he’s
0:02:21 really good. So for people to have a reallyhigh opinion of themselves is not always a
0:02:29 good thing. A little bit ofmodesty is always useful. Okay?
0:02:35 So: «He thinks of himselfas a great artist.»
0:02:39 It sounds a little bit like a criticism.You know, he has a high opinion
0:02:46 of himself. Okay.
0:02:50 Now, this one: «It’s later thanyou think!» It is like a warning.
0:02:56 It could be in a…
0:02:58 In a horror film, a horror movie or something,you know, The Martian, The Landing:
0:03:04 «It’s later than you think!» It seems to havean American accent with it. Sort of something
0:03:11 to frighten people. It could be part of anentertainment, though, like a film. It doesn’t
0:03:19 always mean just literally: «Oh, you thinkit’s 3 o’clock and it’s actually 4 o’clock.
0:03:26 It’s later than you think.»
0:03:28 It’s an hour later than you think.So you could use it that way,
0:03:33 but it usually has a special meaning to make peopleworry a little bit. Maybe people advertising,
0:03:42 trying to sell insurance,life insurance.
0:03:46 «How old are you? 40.It’s later than you
0:03:50 think and you haven’t takenout life insurance yet.
0:03:55 What will happen to your family if anythinghappens to you? It’s later than you think.»
0:04:02 So companies, you know,insurance companies
0:04:06 especially try to worry people,so you can be aware of that.
0:04:13 Okay, next example: «Come to think of it,I haven’t seen her for a month or two.»
0:04:22 So, you’re saying: «Well, now… Now I’mthinking about it, about that woman,
0:04:28 now I’m thinking about her, I haven’tseen her for a month or two.»
0:04:34 So you weren’t awarethat you hadn’t
0:04:37 seen her, but then whensomebody mentions her name:
0:04:40 «Oh, yeah, come to think of it, Ihaven’t seen her for some time.»
0:04:47 So: «Come to think of it»is quite a useful phrase.
0:04:52 Okay?
0:04:53 Next one, if someone says: «Oh, I’m just thinkingaloud.» or «I’m just thinking out loud.»
0:05:01 they’re saying things, they’re saying their thoughts,and maybe they don’t make a lot of sense sometimes.
0:05:10 If you say what you’re thinking all the time,it can be very strange for other people. If
0:05:17 you’re speaking your thoughts all the time youhave to be careful to select a little bit.
0:05:25 If someone’s having someideas for a project
0:05:28 and they’re sort ofbrainstorming-yeah?-they’re thinking aloud,
0:05:34 thinking of different ideas… Thinkingusually is silent, inside your head.
0:05:42 But if you’re saying what you’re thinking, you’rethinking aloud or you’re thinking out loud.
0:05:49 You’re speaking your thoughts.And if you say:
0:05:52 «Oh, don’t… Don’t mind me.I’m just thinking aloud.
0:05:56 Don’t take any notice of me. Theseare just my thoughts.» You know?
0:06:02 I have to arrange them later into some sort oforder and sense. Okay? So, just thinking aloud.
0:06:13 Right, moving on. If you have an idea, but then lateryou’re not quite sure it’s a good idea, you say:
0:06:25 «I did have an idea, but I’vethought better of it.» Meaning:
0:06:32 «Well, it wasn’t such a good idea. I thought betterof it», meaning I’m not going to do that now,
0:06:40 that idea. It’s not as good as I first thoughtit was. Okay? I thought better of it.
0:06:49 Right. Next: «If you don’t thinkbig, you’ll never achieve anything.»
0:06:57 So when you think
0:06:59 new ideas, try to think big because you canalways come back to something smaller later,
0:07:08 but if you’re wanting to achieve things in life,sometimes you have to think big. Otherwise
0:07:14 if you think small you’re only going to go asmall way. So to think big you will progress
0:07:21 a little bit further. Okay. «If you don’tthink big, you’ll never achieve anything.»
0:07:29 Now, this is about opinion again, aboutpeople who work together, colleagues:
0:07:37 «He thinks very little of his colleagues.» Thatmeans he doesn’t have a very high opinion of his
0:07:47 colleagues. He doesn’t really respect themvery much. So it’s not a very nice thing.
0:07:55 It’s good to think well of your colleagues. Okay?Not to think very little of your colleagues.
0:08:04 Okay?
0:08:06 Also, if you go to see a film but you didn’treally like it very much, you can say:
0:08:12 «I didn’t think much of that film.»It was okay, but nothing special.
0:08:20 «I didn’t thinkmuch of that film.»
0:08:25 Then decisions, decisions with money, it’salways a big issue, especially nowadays.
0:08:35 «You should think twice beforeinvesting with that bank.»
0:08:42 Now, if you thinkonce and invest the
0:08:45 money… Okay? Well, you have to hope forthe best. But if you think twice, it means
0:08:53 you’ve thought once and you’ve thought: «Okay,it’s probably a good bank to invest with.»
0:08:58 But if you think a secondtime, you might think:
0:09:03 «Ah, but there was some bad publicity recently aboutthat bank. Maybe I shouldn’t invest with them.»
0:09:10 So when you think twice,
0:09:13 you’re possibly changing your mind, decidingnot to do something when you’ve thought for
0:09:21 the second time. So: «Thinktwice before doing something.»
0:09:28 Okay, and then finally, this is a very niceone: «She thinks the world of her sister.»
0:09:36 The world, the whole world, that means shethinks a lot of her sister. She thinks her
0:09:42 sister is great, lovely person. So: «Shethinks the world of her sister.» Okay.
0:09:51 So, I hope those examples have beeninteresting and useful for you.
0:09:57 And if you’d like to do a quiz on this subject,please go to the website: www.engvid.com.
0:10:04 And if you’d like to subscribe to my YouTubechannel, then that would be lovely.
0:10:09 Thank you. And hope tosee you again very soon.
0:10:13 Okay. Bye for now.

Источник

Native English speakers love to use expressions to show how they feel and think. In this lesson, I will teach you 12 common expressions that use the verb think. Some examples include It's later than you think, Don't think better of it, Don't think twice, and think big. Watch the video to add some useful expressions to your English. You will think the world of this lesson!

Quiz