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'Think/believe' take 'that' to express opinion; 'consider/find' construct opinion with object + adjective or noun.
Side-by-side comparison
"Think" expresses a personal opinion or subjective judgment: "I think it's a good idea". It can be followed by "that" or an adjective.
I think the new library is much nicer than the old one, they really improved the lighting.
She believes exercise is the best way to manage stress, and she goes for a run every morning.
Do you think it will rain tomorrow? I was planning to go to the beach with friends.
"Believe" implies a stronger conviction, sometimes based on faith or moral certainty. "Consider" implies reflection and deliberation before arriving at an assessment.
The teacher considers reading aloud one of the best ways to improve your pronunciation.
I feel that the exam was unfair, some questions covered topics we had never studied in class.
He considers himself a good cook, but the pasta he made last night was a bit too salty.
Common mistake
Frequent errors:
- 1."Consider that it is risky" = wrong for evaluative CONSIDER, it does not take "that": "I consider it risky."
- 2."I find that the results encouraging" = wrong, evaluative FIND also drops "that": "I find the results encouraging."
- 3."I consider to review the data" = wrong. CONSIDER takes a gerund: "I am considering reviewing the data."
Trick to remember it
- •Structure of each verb: THINK/BELIEVE = verb + (that) + phrase with subject + verb.
- •CONSIDER = verb + object + adjective/noun (no "that"): "I consider it risky." FIND = verb + object + adjective (no "that"): "I find it useful." Negation with opinion verbs rises to main verb: "I DON'T think he is right" (not "I think he ISN'T right").
- •Short answers: "I think so / I believe so."
Quick rule
- •Think/believe + that-clause.
- •Consider + object + adj/noun (no "that").
- •Find + object + adj/participle (no "that").
- •Negation rises to main verb.
- •Consider + gerund = contemplate an action (not opinion).
Did you know?
The phenomenon of "negation raising to the main verb" (Neg-raising) with opinion verbs like THINK, BELIEVE, EXPECT, and FEEL is one of the most studied pragmatic phenomena in cognitive linguistics. The rule: "I don't think he is here" is generally interpreted as "I think he is NOT here", the negation semantically affects the subordinate clause even though grammatically it is in the main clause. This does NOT occur with all verbs: "I don't know if he is here" does NOT equal "I know he is not here." It only occurs with opinion, belief, and perception verbs (think, believe, suppose, expect, feel, seem). Linguists have debated for decades whether this is a syntactic phenomenon (negation actually moves in the grammar) or pragmatic (the listener infers the equivalence from contextual reasons). The debate remains open.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
I _____ ed the options carefully before deciding which one to take.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Many people _____ that this is the best film ever made.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
Some verbs take a gerund (-ing), others take an infinitive (to + verb), and some take both with different meanings.
'Suggest' and 'recommend' never take 'to' + infinitive; they use a gerund or a 'that' clause.
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
'A lot of' works for countable and uncountable; 'many' only for countable; 'much' only for uncountable.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy