Penser à vs penser de
The short answer
Penser à means to have something on your mind: j’y pense souvent. Penser de asks for an opinion, and turns up almost only in questions: qu’est-ce que tu penses de ce film ? If you are answering that question, you switch back to penser que.
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At a glance
Penser à or Penser de?
| Compare | Penser àTo have in mind. The everyday one. | Penser deTo have an opinion of. Almost always a question. |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | To think about, to have in mind | To have an opinion of |
| Frequency | Very common, in all sentence types | Rare outside questions |
| Pronoun for a thing | y: j’y pense | en: qu’en penses-tu ? |
| Pronoun for a person | à lui, à elle | de lui, d’elle |
| Answering | Stays penser à | Switches to penser que |
| Typical sentence | Je pense à mon travail. | Que penses-tu de son idée ? |
How to choose
Ask these, in order
- 1
Is something occupying your thoughts?
Penser à. This covers worrying, remembering and simply having something in mind.
Je pense souvent à mes années à Lyon.
I often think about my years in Lyon.
- 2
Are you asking someone for a judgement?
Penser de, and it will almost certainly be a question.
Qu’est-ce que tu penses de la nouvelle directrice ?
What do you think of the new director?
- 3
Are you answering that question?
Penser que. Neither preposition survives into the answer.
Je pense qu’elle est très compétente.
I think she’s very capable.
NBJe pense d’elle qu’elle… is not how French replies.
- 4
Are you replacing the thing with a pronoun?
The preposition decides: à gives y, de gives en.
J’y pense. / Qu’en penses-tu ?
I’m thinking about it. / What do you think of it?
Side by side
Each one, in full
When to use penser à
To have in mind. The everyday one.
Penser à is the ordinary verb. It covers whatever is on your mind: a person, a plan, a worry, a task you must not forget, and it works in statements, questions and negatives alike.
It also carries the sense of remembering to do something: pense à fermer la porte means don’t forget to shut the door, and is far more common in speech than n’oublie pas.
Elle pense à changer de travail.
She’s thinking about changing jobs.
Pense à acheter du pain.
Remember to buy bread.
Je pense à toi.
I’m thinking of you.
NBA person takes à toi, not y, y is for things and places only.
When to use penser de
To have an opinion of. Almost always a question.
Penser de exists to ask for an opinion, and it is almost entirely confined to questions: que penses-tu de…? qu’est-ce qu’ils en pensent ? Outside a question it sounds distinctly odd.
The reason is that the answer never uses it. French replies with penser que, so penser de survives only in the asking, which is why learners meet it as a fixed question frame rather than as a verb with a full range.
Qu’est-ce que vous pensez de ce projet ?
What do you think of this project?
Qu’en penses-tu ?
What do you think of it?
NBEn, because the verb takes de.
Je me demande ce qu’elle pense de moi.
I wonder what she thinks of me.
Mistakes to avoid
What learners actually get wrong
Que penses-tu à ce film ?
Que penses-tu de ce film ?
Asking for an opinion takes de. Penser à would ask whether the film is on your mind, which is a different and much stranger question.
J’en pense souvent.
J’y pense souvent.
Penser à gives y, not en. Getting the pronoun wrong reveals that the preposition underneath was wrong too, so it is worth checking the verb before the pronoun.
Je pense de que c’est une bonne idée.
Je pense que c’est une bonne idée.
The answer to a penser de question uses penser que, with no preposition at all. Carrying the de across from the question is a very common over-correction.
Je pense y.
J’y pense.
Y goes before the verb, never after it. This is the general rule for y and en, and it applies here regardless of which verb they attach to.
Now use it
Prépositions à, de, en, dans
Places, times and the au / du / aux contractions. Reading a rule and being able to apply it are different skills, and only one of them shows up when you speak.
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Questions
Asked and answered
- Is penser de ever used in a statement?
- Rarely, and it usually sounds bookish. You will meet it in relative clauses reporting an opinion, ce qu’il pense de moi, and in indirect questions. For a plain statement of opinion, French uses penser que or trouver que instead.
- What about réfléchir à?
- Réfléchir à is deliberate thought, working something out, while penser à is simply having it in mind. Je réfléchis à ta proposition means you are weighing it up; je pense à ta proposition means it is on your mind.
- Does the same split exist in other verbs?
- Yes, and it is worth noticing as a pattern. Parler à is to speak to someone, parler de is to speak about something. Jouer à is to play a game, jouer de is to play an instrument. The preposition is part of the verb’s meaning, not decoration.