思う
o-mo-u
One verb for guessing, opining and missing someone
The picture A scene rises on its own inside you and sits there, untouched. 思う lets the picture sit as it came; 考える turns that picture over and over.
Where the picture shows up in 思う
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Guessing from what surfaces
明日は雨だと思います。
ashita wa ame da to omoi-masu
I think it'll rain tomorrow.
Looking out the window, a wet road and umbrellas surface quietly in the mind.
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Saying what surfaced
この値段は少し高いと思います。
kono nedan wa sukoshi takai to omoi-masu
I think this price is a bit high.
At the sight of the tag an inner scale tips one way and stops there.
と思います is the soft way to put an opinion on the table.
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A face coming up
国にいる母を思うと泣きたくなります。
kuni ni iru haha o omou to naki-taku nari-masu
When I think of my mother back home, I want to cry.
Lying awake at night, the mother's face rises in the chest and the throat goes hot.
With a person as the object, it leans toward missing them.
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An intention that stays put
来月やめようと思っています。
raigetsu yame-yō to omotte i-masu
I'm thinking of quitting next month.
The image of yourself packing up and leaving keeps hanging in one corner of the mind.
～ようと思っています is a plan that has already settled in.
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The picture against reality
思ったより簡単でした。
omotta yori kantan deshita
It was easier than I thought.
The tall wall you had drawn in your head stands next to the low step that was actually there.
All of it in one picture
思う is one picture: a scene surfaces inside you and stays. Picture tomorrow's wet road and you have a guess; picture the tag as too high and you have an opinion; picture your mother's face and you are missing her; let a picture of yourself quitting stay there and you have made up your mind; hold one picture next to what actually happened and you get "easier than I thought". In every one of these the scene arrives on its own instead of being summoned, which is why 思う never sounds like working something out.