chris bartlett

Giving opinions

giving opinions and asking for opinions

Welcome back to our section in Intermediate-level Spanish!  Here are some nice and easy ways of giving opinions in Spanish.

Creo que…

This literally translates as ‘I believe’, but its use is often closer to the English ‘I think’. It’s probably the most common way of giving opinions in Spanish.

  • Creo que el nuevo producto va a tener mucho éxito.
    I think that the new product will be very successful.

No creo que…

Watch out when using ‘No creo…’ as the following verb must be in the subjunctive:

  • No creo que este coche sea una buena compra.
    I don’t think this car is a good purchase.
  • No creo que Sara venga a visitarnos el años que viene.
    I don’t think that Sara will come to visit us next year. 

Remember that the subjunctive is the correct verb form, not the indicative:

Correcto: No creo que vaya a mejorar la situación.
Incorrecto: No creo que va a mejorar la situación.

However, if we use the positive form ‘creo que…’ then we do use the indicative form of the verb, not the subjunctive:

  • Creo que vamos a llegar tarde.
    I think that we’re going to arrive late.

Pienso

The verb ‘pensar’ translates as ‘think’. It goes with ‘que’ when we are giving opinions:

  • Pienso que es una muy buena idea.
    I think that’s a great idea.
  • Pienso que vamos a tener problemas con los clientes.
    I think that we are going to have problems with our clients.

En mi opinión

A simple option for English speakers as it’s virtually the same form as we would use in our own language

  • En mi opinión su campaña de marketing es muy mala.
    In my opinion their marketing campaign is very bad. 

Ask somebody’s opinion

Of course, listening to other opinions is also a good idea. Most of the time. Here are simple ways of asking somebody’ opinion:

  • ¿Qué opinas?
  • ¿Qué piensas?

For example:

  • ¿Qué opinas del nuevo fichaje del Real Madrid?
    What do you think of Real Madrid’s new signing?

If you really like talking about football/soccer then check out our article on football-related vocabulary. It’s part of our growing Vocabulary section.

¿Cuál es tu opinión?

Another form which looks really similar to English:

  • Yo creo que no es una buena opción. ¿Cuál es tu opinión, Juan?
    I think that it’s not a good option. What’s your opinion, Juan?
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