penser
French, verb/pɑ̃.se/
penser is a French verb meaning “to think, reflect, concentrate one's mind on something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Exercer l’activité de l’esprit ; accomplir quelque opération de l’intelligence ; concevoir ; imaginer …”.
What does penser mean in English?
verb
- 1
to think, reflect, concentrate one's mind on something
penser tout haut
- 2
to think, imagine, believe
Vous n'en êtes pas où vous pensez.
- 3
to be of the opinion that, believe
Je pensais qu'il était de vos amis.
- 4
to be absorbed by a worry or depressing thoughts
- 5
to conceive a project
- 6
to evoke the image or remembrance of someone in one's mind
penser d'aucun
- 7
to attach one's thinking to someone, especially lovingly
Pensez à moi.
- 8
to believe being or doing something
Il pense être plus habile que les autres.
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Exercer l’activité de l’esprit ; accomplir quelque opération de l’intelligence ; concevoir ; imaginer ; réfléchir. 2. Croire. 3. Estimer. 4. Avoir une opinion.
noun: 1. Opération consciente de la pensée ; pensée.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of penser
- avoir + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- pensant gerund participle present
- ayant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- pensé participle past
- pense first-person indicative present
- pɑ̃s first-person indicative present
- penses indicative present second-person
- pensons first-person indicative plural
- pensez indicative plural present
- pensent indicative plural present
- pensais first-person imperfect indicative
- pensait imperfect indicative singular
- pensions first-person imperfect indicative
- pensiez imperfect indicative plural
- pensaient imperfect indicative plural
- pensai first-person historic indicative
- pensas historic indicative past
- pensa historic indicative past
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce penser?
- /pɑ̃.se/
- \pɑ̃.se\
- [pɑ̃.se]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to penser
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is penser in French?
penser appears 120 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).