The Verb "Think" in English

Conjugation of "To Think"

The verb "think" is an irregular verb. (This means that "think" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Think"

Form	think	Alternative Name
Base Form	think	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	thinks	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	thought	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	thinking	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	thought	[no alternative name]

Example Sentences with To Think

It's your go. Select the correct version of "to think":

"To Think" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "think" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	thought thought thought thought thought thought The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was thinking were thinking was thinking were thinking were thinking were thinking The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had thought had thought had thought had thought had thought had thought The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been thinking had been thinking had been thinking had been thinking had been thinking had been thinking The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	think think thinks think think think The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am thinking are thinking is thinking are thinking are thinking are thinking The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have thought have thought has thought have thought have thought have thought The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been thinking have been thinking has been thinking have been thinking have been thinking have been thinking The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will think will think will think will think will think will think The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be thinking will be thinking will be thinking will be thinking will be thinking will be thinking The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have thought will have thought will have thought will have thought will have thought will have thought The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been thinking will have been thinking will have been thinking will have been thinking will have been thinking will have been thinking The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think (this page)

This page was written by Craig Shrives.