う・よう + と思(おも)うI think I will, I think I shall, Going to, Gonna (Volitional + と思う)

Structure

Verb［おう］ + と思(おも)う⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾ と思(おも)っている

Details

About 〜ようと思う・〜おうと思う

The combination of a verb with the auxiliary verb う, or よう, followed by the う-Verb 思(おも)う gives us the common expression ようと思(おも)う. This expression is often translated as 'I think I will (A)', or 'I shall (A)'. It is also close to the casual expression 'I'm gonna (A)'.

Remembering that う and よう can have one of three possible meanings in Japanese (as discussed in the よう grammar point), ようと思(おも)う is usually only used to express one of those three. That 'one' is as follows:

意志(いし) - Expresses intentions (has a similar meaning to ～するつもりだ）.

This expression is also often used with 思(おも)っている. In these cases, it highlights that the intention of the speaker is something that they regularly think, or have been thinking about for some time.

思(おも)っている may also be used when describing the intentions of another person, as discussed in our lesson about と思(おも)う.

Caution

Let's be careful to remember the difference between the auxiliary verbs よう, and ようだ. They are different constructions that have different meanings, and behave in unique ways grammatically.

Synonyms

Examples

--:--

明日(あした)、勉強(べんきょう)をしようと思(おも)う。

I think I will study tomorrow.

来年(らいねん)、家(いえ)を買(か)おうと思(おも)う。

I think I will buy a house next year.

帰(かえ)ってから、お菓子(かし)を食(た)べようと思(おも)います。

I think I will eat candy after returning home.

今日(きょう)から文法(ぶんぽう)の勉強(べんきょう)を始(はじ)めようと思(おも)う。

I think I will start studying grammar from today.

息子(むすこ)はレゴを欲(ほ)しがっているから、買(か)ってあげようと思(おも)う。

My son wants lego, so I think I will buy him some.

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〜ようと思う・〜おうと思う – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (7 in total)

fdiotalevi
Is this structure used informally only (like the volitional form alone), or can it be used in a formal context as well?
mrnoone
@fdiotalevi

Hey and welcome to the community forums!

ようと思う can be used in formal and casual circumstances. So you can use it when talking to your superior at work, or to someone you don’t know.

Remember about polite ます though
Also, when you want to talk about plans of 3rd person, you should use ようと思っている(ようと思っています) rather than ようと思う.

I hope it helps,
Cheers!
steffuld
I’ve just come across such sentence

飲酒をやめようと思った一番の理由は何ですか？
What was the main reason you decided to stop drinking alcohol?

Maybe this grammar point focuses too much on first person sentences, because it never occurred to me that it can be used like that before.

Now, it looks like there’s definitely some kind of connection between 〜ようと思う and ～ようとする. Interesting!