Pensar + que + verb, iba a

Question

Someone brought this up and so I was curious as well. I think when using pensar to mean to plan something then que is omitted right? I plan to go to Italy this year. "Pienso ir a Italia este año" o "Este año pienso ir a Italia". When I put this into google translate, it worked well. Do I need the que?

Regarding "no pensar", I recently heard that I can use "iba a" with a sentence like this: "No pensé que iba a llover mañana/hoy". Can I also use "iba a" in these examples, or should I use subjunctive?

-I didn't think that the dress was going to fit her. No pensé que el vestido iba a caber a ella.

-I didn't think the dress was going to look good on her. No pensé que el vestido iba a irse bien en ella.

-I did think I was going to get the job. No pensé que iba a obtener el trabajo. *Even though there is no change of subject, I can not say: "No pensé obtener el trabajor" because pensar always needs to be followed by "que" right?

-I didn't think we were going to get homework today. No pensé que íbamos a recibir tarea hoy.

Answer 1

Julián has clarified the matter about using "pensar" with "que." As has been stated many times, hispanohablantes prefer to use "creer" instead of "pensar" in these cases.

Now I wish to give an example of "pensar" without "que" (and in this case you cannot use "creer.")

Pensar + verb means "to intend to" or "to plan to."

Pienso ir al parque mañana con mis hijos. "I intend/plan to go the park tomorrow with my kids."

With regard to Pensar + que + verb in the negative I wouldn't use "ir" at all.

In your sentence:

-I didn't think we were going to get homework today. No pensé que íbamos a recibir tarea hoy.

I would merely say, "No pensé (I prefer 'no pensaba') que recibiéramos tarea hoy." Which translates to: "I didn't think that we would get any homework today."

Now that I look at Ramonaspikers examples I think some of them could use the past subjunctive after "que" because English sometimes uses "was going to" and "would" interchangeably. - Jubilado, Sep 5, 2016

Right. You avoid a lot of problems by doing it the simpler Spanish way than trying to complicate things as in English. - Daniela2041, Sep 5, 2016

This is definitely very helpful grammar points! Thank you so much Daniela! I finally understand it now much better thanks to you. - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016

I would appreciate it if you could correct my new sentences: 1) No pensé que lloviera hoy/mañana. 2) No pensé que el vestido cupiera a ella - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016

3) No pensaba que el vestido se fuera bien en ella. 4) No creía que yo obtuviera el trabajo. 5) No creía que recibiéramos tarea hoy - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016

No pensaba que el vestido le quedara bien a ella. The others look OK. - Daniela2041, Sep 5, 2016

Great! Thanks again for all your help Daniela! :) - Ramonaspiker, Sep 6, 2016

Answer 2

Pensar + verb positive or negative is correct, que is not used.

I remember your question about iba a in past tense. If the action is negative as in your examples, we must use subjunctive, If the action is positive, we can use iba, ie: Ayer pensaba que iba a salir el sol y en fin así fue.

Alright thanks Julian! You told me iba can be used in this example:" No pensé que iba a llover hoy.", which got me really confused because I thought subjunctive is usually the way to conjugate a verb following no pensar. So was your example wrong? - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016

In that case I made a mistake, sorry - 005faa61, Sep 5, 2016

Okay, thanks for all your help Julian! - Ramonaspiker, Sep 6, 2016

Answer 3

I cannot find a clarification in the grammar links I have about using no pensar que to indicate that something will not happen. In English there is a somewhat subtle difference only in phrasing when we say for example: "I think it is not going to rain," and "I don't think it's going to rain." Which just seems to indicate that my thinking has nothing to do with what is going to not happen. Since Spanish avoids the "Future Subjunctive" this may be the way your example would be formed. I could see the past subjunctive in the in the example about getting the job especially if you were saying: "I didn't think he would get the job " No pensé que obtuviera el trabajo. But since the subject does not change perhaps iba a obtener is correct.

I think you are correct about using que after no pensar.

I like you will await a clarification.

Exactamente. - Daniela2041, Sep 5, 2016

You think "iba a obtener" after no pensé is correct? Or do you think something like "No pensé que yo fuera a obtener el trabajo" would be better? - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016

Or maybe "No pensé que yo obtuviera el trabajo" is the best. I find "fuera a" to be a bit strange sound-wise - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016

That's it! Like Jubilado said, "was going to" and "would" are practically synonymous in the negative. - Daniela2041, Sep 5, 2016

Yay! Thanks so much Daniela and Jubilado! - Ramonaspiker, Sep 5, 2016