to think about (a se gândi la)
The reflexive with la. This is the dominant use and the one to learn first.
Mă gândesc la tine.
I'm thinking of you.
La ce te gândești?
What are you thinking about?
#133 · Verb
gândi
In Romanian, gândi means “to think about (a se gândi la)”. It’s the #133 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
A gândi is "to think" — but in practice you almost always want the reflexive a se gândi la, "to think about". Mă gândesc la tine is "I am thinking of you". Rank 133, an -esc verb, and it divides the work with a crede: a crede is what you believe, a gândi is the act of thinking itself.
neutralto consider / to think it over
The reflexive without la — weighing a decision.
Mă mai gândesc.
I'll think about it.
to think (that)
With că it reports an opinion, overlapping with a crede.
M-am gândit că vii.
I thought you were coming.
to think (the faculty)
Non-reflexive, about thinking as an activity or an ability.
Gândește înainte să vorbești.
Think before you speak.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top 5 forms cover about 85% of everyday use — learn these first.
gândit32%
gândesc19%
gândești13%
gândeam11%
gândește10%
Show 10 more forms
gândi6%
gândim3%
gândiți2%
gândească1%
gândindu<1%
gândea<1%
gândind<1%
gândisem<1%
gândeau<1%
gândise<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a gândi
- Past Participle
- gândit
- Gerund
- gândind
- Imperative Singular
- gândește
- Imperative Plural
- gândiți
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- both
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | gândesc | gândești | gândește | gândim | gândiți | gândesc |
| Imperfect | gândeam | gândeai | gândea | gândeam | gândeați | gândeau |
| Perfect compus | am gândit | ai gândit | a gândit | am gândit | ați gândit | au gândit |
| Future | voi gândi | vei gândi | va gândi | vom gândi | veți gândi | vor gândi |
| Conditional | aș gândi | ai gândi | ar gândi | am gândi | ați gândi | ar gândi |
| Subjunctive | să gândesc | să gândești | să gândească | să gândim | să gândiți | să gândească |
- The reflexive a se gândi conjugates identically with the pronoun in front: mă gândesc, te gândești, se gândește, ne gândim, vă gândiți, se gândesc.
- The -esc syllable appears in four present forms only — gândesc, gândești, gândește, gândesc — but not in gândim and gândiți.
- a se gândi la is the act of thinking; a crede că is the opinion held. Ce crezi? asks your view, La ce te gândești? asks what is on your mind.
Examples
Mă gândesc la tine.
I'm thinking of you.
gândesc - Reflexive plus la, and the stressed pronoun tine after the preposition. Dropping mă changes the sentence into something a Romanian would not say.
La ce te gândești?
What are you thinking about?
gândești - The preposition leads the question — la ce, never ce … la. This mirrors despre ce and cu cine.
Mă mai gândesc.
I'll think about it.
gândesc - The polite way to defer a decision. mai here means "still" — the thinking is ongoing.
M-am gândit mult la asta.
I've thought about it a lot.
gândit - The reflexive compound past: mă plus am contracts to m-am.
Gândește-te bine!
Think it over carefully!
gândește - The reflexive imperative, with the pronoun hyphenated to the end — the same pattern as uită-te and du-te.
Nu m-am gândit la asta.
I hadn't thought of that.
gândit - Under a negation the clitic still contracts: nu m-am. asta is the neutral demonstrative for a whole idea.
A gândi needs its reflexive pronoun for "think about": Mă gândesc la tine. Without it, gândesc la tine is not Romanian. Compare a crede, which never takes one — Cred că ai dreptate is how you say "I think you are right".
In expressions
Common phrases built around gândi — worth learning as whole units.
mă gândesc— I think, I'm thinking (about)
lit. “myself I-think”