Pienso que...
How do you say I think in Spanish as in I think he went to the restroom' (an unverified fact) or *I think the red one is nicer (expressing taste or opinion).
I know that pienso means I think but I'm wondering if Native Spanish speakers use it the way we do in English.
I'm asking is because in Hebrew, while it is correct to say the equivalent of I think in these cases, it is more common to say It seems to me or me parece in Spanish.
Also, in Yiddish (a language that evolved from German) we say Ich mayn which literally means 'I mean'. Saying 'Ich tract, the equivalent of I think sounds translated..
So back to my quesion: Do Native Spanish speakers use pienso to express their opinion and assumptions? If no, what do they use?
2 Answers
Yes you can use pensar but also you can creer. Perhaps creer is more common for that kind of "think." Also there is "opino que.." for when you want to express your opinion about something. I hope a Native answers you too.
Apparently the use of pensar in this manner is an "Englishism". I think your first example would be expressed by using the future tense to indicate probability and the second would use prefer rather than think. It seems that creer is used more often than pensar where we would use think to express what we believe.
