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A2How to saydúmayu da

How to say “I think so” in Russian

Russian has a whole scale of hedging words. These are the five you need, from fairly sure to not really.

Quick answer

Ду́маю, да.

dúmayu da — plus наве́рное, ка́жется and the famous да нет, наве́рное

The options

Ду́маю, да.I think so.
Наве́рное.Probably.
Ка́жется, да.It seems so.
Скоре́е всего́.Most likely.
Вряд ли.Unlikely.

The scale

From strongest to weakest: то́чно (definitely), скоре́е всего́ (most likely), наве́рное (probably), ка́жется (it seems), мо́жет быть (maybe), вряд ли (unlikely), то́чно нет (definitely not).

The comma

A clause after ду́маю or ка́жется always takes a comma: Ду́маю, что он прав. Russian punctuation is strict here, and the что can be dropped in speech but the comma stays in writing.

да нет, наве́рное

The famous three-word answer: literally “yes no probably”, meaning “no, I don’t think so”. The да is a filler, not an affirmation. It is perfectly normal speech and a good joke to be in on.

What you hear back

Ты уве́рен?Are you sure?
Я то́же так ду́маю.I think so too.
Я бы не сказа́л.I wouldn’t say so.

Typical mistakes

Я ду́маю да.

Ду́маю, да.

The comma is required, and the я is usually dropped.

Reading да нет as “yes”

It means no

The да is a filler.

Check yourself

What does да нет, наве́рное mean?

The да is a filler — the answer is no.

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