How to use “pensare a”: Italian grammar lesson 108

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E penso a te

Before we start, try listening to the song below to get in the mood for today’s lesson.

It’s called E penso a te and was composed by Lucio Battisti in 1970.

Io lavoro e penso a te.
Torno a casa e penso a te.
Le telefono e intanto penso a te.
Come stai? E penso a te.
Dove andiamo? E penso a te.

Here’s its translation:

I work and I think of you.
I go home and I think of you.
I call her and, in the meantime, I think of you.
How are you? And I think of you.
Where are we going? And I think of you.

Pensare a Italian

What’s the structure of pensare a?

Now that you’re in the mood let’s get started!

In Italian, we use the preposition a when we think of (or about) something or someone.

The construction is pensare a + something or someone

And here’s an example:

Penso a Maria tutti i giorni.

I think of Maria every day.

Penso a lei Italian

What’s the structure of pensare + pronoun?

When we refer to someone, we might say their name, but we might also just use a followed by a pronoun.

a me
a te
a lui/lei
a noi
a voi
a loro

Just like the title of the song we saw above:

E penso a te.

And I think of you.

Penso a te Italian

What’s the structure of pensare + article?

Also, since we think of different things and people, instead of just a we can combine it with an article, depending on the gender and number of what we’re referring to:

il + a al
lo + a allo
la + a all’ / alla
i + a ai
gli + a agli
le + a alle
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Have a look at the examples below:

Sto pensando al mio gatto.

I’m thinking about my cat.

Stai pensando alle tue bambine?

Are you thinking about your girls?

Pensare a qualcuno Italian

The conjugation of the verb pensare

We can conjugate the verb pensare the way we want, depending on what we want to say, like in the examples below:

Sto pensando a te.

I’m thinking of you.

Abbiamo pensato a un bel regalo per Giovanni.

We thought about a nice present for Giovanni.

Pensare a qualcosa

A chi pensi?

When we want to ask what or who someone is thinking about, we place the a at the beginning, like in the questions below:

A cosa pensate?

What are you thinking about?

A chi pensi?

Who are you thinking about?

Penso a te meaning

Pensare a: examples

Here’re some more examples:

Penso sempre ai miei allievi.

I always think about my students.

Devi pensare al futuro.

You have to think about the future.

Sto pensando a loro.

I’m thinking about them.

Sto pensando a tutto quello che devo ancora fare.

I’m thinking of all the things I still have to do.

A: A chi stai pensando?
B: Sto pensando a mio fratello.

A: Who are you thinking about?
B: I’m thinking of my brother.

A: A cosa pensi?
B: Penso alle mie vacanze.

A: What are you thinking about?
B: I’m thinking about my holidays.

Pensare a meaning Italian

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FAQs on How to use “pensare a”: Italian grammar lesson 108

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