This article deals with the verbs luulla, ajatella and miettiä. All three are verbs that can be used to express “to think”. In addition, there are other verbs such as pohtia, mietiskellä, pohdiskella and harkita. These will be the topic of another article.

1. Minä luulen vs. minä ajattelen – “I think that”

One problem that beginner and intermediate students run in fairly often is how to translate “I think” to Finnish. The two most common verbs for this are luulla and ajatella. In addition, it’s also a good idea to get acquainted with the verb miettiä.

The following small list should help you grasp the difference between luulla, ajatella and miettiä.

Next, I want to go into more detail for each of these verbs.

2. Luulla – To think, to assume

The verb luulla expresses that whatever you’re thinking is uncertain. You’re under the impression that something might be a certain way. It expresses that the thought might turn out not to be true. This verb does not inherently mean that what you’re thinking isn’t true, but it leaves the option open.

This verb will be followed by the conjunction että and a full sentence.

3. Ajatella – To think, to have thoughts

Ajatella refers to what’s happening in your brain: you’re producing thoughts. It’s used in several different sentence constructions.

3.1. Ajatella – I’m thinking of you – Ajattelen sinua

The verb ajatella is used to express that your thoughts are with a person, or that you’re thinking about/of something. Ajatella is followed by the partitive case when you express what you’re thinking about.

3.2. Ajatella – What do you think of this? – Mitä ajattelet tästä?

In questions, you can use the verb ajatella to ask what someone’s thoughts are on a topic. The topic will be inflected in the mistä-form (elative case) in these questions. In statements, the verb ajatella will not be used with the mistä-form! See section 3.4 for information about statements.

3.3. Ajatella – I was thinking of selling my house – Ajattelin myydä taloni

The verb ajatella can also be used in combination with a verb in its basic form. In these types of sentences, the verb ajatella focuses on what you’re considering, planning or aiming to do.

The verb ajatella will usually be inflected in the past tense, while the second verb will appear in its basic form (infinitive). We use the past tense even when the intended action takes place in the future. This is kind of logical, because you’re expressing a thought you just had out loud.

3.4. Ajatella – I think that – Ajattelen, että

When ajatella is followed by että and a full sentence, it expresses a thought you had in a situation. You will only use the verb ajatella for this when you’re referring to a static thought you have. Longer thought processes require the verb miettiä.

In order to understand the difference with luulla, it’s a good idea to compare sentences which can have both verbs. In some cases, you can use both verbs with only a slight difference. This is especially useful for when the sentences tell about a thought you previously had, because in these cases we know the outcome.

Compare for example:

• I thought everything was possible.
  Ajattelin, että kaikki oli mahdollista. “I had the thought that” (I held this as true)
  Luulin, että kaikki oli mahdollista. “I was under the impression that” (but it wasn’t)

• I thought you would like this.
  Ajattelin, että tykkäisit tästä. “I had the idea that” (I held this as true)
  Luulin, että tykkäisit tästä. “I was under the impression that” (but you didn’t)

• I didn’t think it would work.
  – En ajatellut, että se onnistuisi. “I didn’t think that” (but maybe it did)
  – En luullut, että se onnistuisi. “I didn’t assume that” (and it didn’t)

4. Miettiä – To think, to wonder

The verb miettiä is used when you think something over. Often it’s related to making decisions, but it can be any thinking process which takes more time.

It’s common to use the verb miettiä in combination with an element that expresses how long or how often you think about something. This can be done in several ways:

• We can use the perfect tense, which in itself means that something has had a longer time span.
  Example: Olen miettinyt tätä. “I’ve thought about this.” or “I’ve been thinking about this.”
  Example: Oletko miettinyt tulevaisuuttasi?” “Have you thought about your future?
• We can use an expression of time that expresses how long or how often you’ve been thinking about something.
  Example: Mietin tätä usein. “I often think about this.”
  Example: Mietin tätä jatkuvasti. “I think about this constantly.”
  Example: Mietin tätä joka päivä. “I thought about this every day.”
  Example: Mietin tätä pitkään. “I thought about this for a long time.”

The form “minä mietin” could be both the present and the past tense: “I think” and “I thought”. Keep that in mind while reading through the next sections.

4.1. Miettiä – I’ll think about it – Mietin asiaa

The verb miettiä can get an object, which will always be inflected in the partitive case.

4.2. Miettiä – I wonder who would understand – Mietin, kuka ymmärtäisi

The verb miettiä can also be used in combination with a question. In these cases, miettiä will be followed by a comma and then:

1. a question word (e.g. missä, milloin, mihin)
2. a -ko/-kö question (e.g. tuleeko, olenko, haluatko)

Especially in spoken language, it’s very common to still add the conjunction että between the verb and the question word. The first example in this table could also be, for example, “Mietin, että näinkö maailma loppuu”.

For these types of sentences, the English translation for miettiä is often “to wonder” rather than “to think”, as you can see in the examples below.

4.3 Miettiä – I thought that – Mietin, että

The verb miettiä can also be used with an että-sentence or the että-construction.

While my example sentences in the table above are short and to the point, it’s important to realize that the verb miettiä inherently contains the idea that the thought process takes longer. This is in contrast with the verb ajatella which is used when you have a singular thought. Compare for example:

• Ajattelin, että kukaan ei huomaisi. “I (had the) thought that nobody would notice.”
• Mietin, että kukaan ei huomaisi ja että kuollut ruumiini löydettäisiin vasta silloin, kun se alkaisi haista ja naapurit valittaisivat vuokranantajalle hajusta. “I thought that nobody would notice and that my dead body would be found only when it would start to smell and my neighbors would complain about the smell to the landlord.”

As seen in the table, while my example for miettiä has a long explanation, this isn’t always necessary when using this verb. The idea that miettiä contains more than one thought is built into the verb itself. This is in contrast with the verb ajatella, which generally refers to having a single thought.

5. “I think that climate change…”

In English, expressing your opinion often happens with the help of the phrase “I think”.This is generally the topic which sparks the question “What’s the difference between ajatella and luulla“. It’s a good idea to refrain from using the verb ajatella in texts where you explain your opinion on a topic.

In Finnish, you can use the verb luulla to express your opinion, but there are other – more Finnish-sounding – ways to achieve the same result. Below, I’m giving both the typical “minä luulen” sentence which Finnish learners favor and some better translations.

• “I think climate change is a hoax.”
  Typical: Luulen, että ilmastonmuutos on huijausta.
  Alternative: Olen sitä mieltä, että ilmastonmuutos on huijausta.
  Alternative: Mielestäni ilmastonmuutos on huijausta.
• “I think smoking should be banned altogether.”
  Typical: Luulen, että tupakointi pitäisi kieltää kokonaan.
  Alternative: Olen sitä mieltä, että tupakointi pitäisi kieltää kokonaan.
  Alternative: Mielestäni tupakointi pitäisi kieltää kokonaan.
• “I think I’m a good cook.”
  Typical: Luulen, että olen hyvä kokki.
  Alternative: Pidän itseäni hyvänä kokkina.
  Alternative: Olen omasta mielestäni hyvä kokki
• “I think we can’t carry on like this.”
  Typical: Luulen, että näin ei voida jatkaa.
  Alternative: Mielestäni näin ei voida jatkaa.
  Alternative: Minusta tuntuu, että näin ei voida jatkaa.

That’s all for this article about luulla, ajatella and miettiä! I plan on writing an article about mental verbs in general in the near future. That article will contain other verbs that can be used to think about things, such as harkita, pohtia and mietiskellä.

PS: The dictionary glosbe.com is often very useful when you’re dealing with a verb with many meanings. It’s not 100% reliable but it certainly gives you an idea of the many options there are.