I thought...

Question

Example:  I thought you were my friend.1.  I believe this implies that now you're no longer my friend.  Is this correct?2.  Does 'I thought...' always mean that there has been a changed in opinion about someone or something?3.  I observed when I watched British's Got Talent, a judge said 'I thought that was the best performance of the night'.  To my ear, it doesn't seem there was a change in opinion. It doesn't seem either it implies there was someone better that night.  Why did the judge say 'I thought...' in that case?Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

AnonymousExample: I thought you were my friend.

1. I believe this implies that now you're no longer my friend. Is this correct?
Not exactly, it means that the person has done something that a true friend would not do, and the friendship is at risk.
Anonymous2. Does 'I thought...' always mean that there has been a changed in opinion about someone or something?
No. It simply means what I was thinking in the past.

I thought that Spain would win the championship, and they did!
I thought that The Netherlands would win the championship, but they didn't.
Anonymous'I thought that was the best performance of the night'. To my ear, it doesn't seem there was a change in opinion. It doesn't seem either it implies there was someone better that night. Why did the judge say 'I thought...' in that case?
He said that because that is exactly what he was thinking at the time.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for that helpful response. I really appreciate it.

If the 'I thought...' sentence is not explicitly followed by 'but...', would you more likely interpret it as a change of opinion, at first thought when you hear it?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousIf the 'I thought...' sentence is not explicitly followed by 'but...', would you more likely interpret it as a change of opinion, at first thought when you hear it?

No. Let's imagine this conversation.

A. You told lies about me! I thought you were my friend.
B. Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought I was helping you by giving excuses about why you weren't in class.
A. Well, it did not help me one bit, but I understand what you did now.
B. I actually thought it was a bad idea at the time, because I thought it might get me into trouble too. But I did it anyway, and I was punished, too.

A. You really are a good friend.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for your example conversation. It helped me to think of the phrase's usage and analyse it more.

AlpheccaStarsA. You told lies about me! I thought you were my friend.

Without further context and when I first read this, I interpreted it that the friendship could be at risk or there was a change of opinion over person B being A's friend.

I thought you were my friend, (but you did something to change my thinking about you as a friend).
I thought you were my friend, (but you still are my friend).

Again, without further context and on first hearing, don't you think the first one above is the more likely interpretation?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous
AlpheccaStarsA. You told lies about me! I thought you were my friend.
Without further context and when I first read this, I interpreted it that the friendship could be at risk or there was a change of opinion over person B being A's friend.

Didn't you read my first post?
AlpheccaStarsNot exactly, it means that the person has done something that a true friend would not do, and the friendship is at risk.

CalifJim · Answer

Example: I thought you were my friend.

1. I believe this implies that now you're no longer my friend. Is this correct? No.

2. Does 'I thought...' always mean that there has been a changed in opinion about someone or something? No.

After thought and knew English speakers nearly always use the past tense. It has nothing to do with a change in opinion.

Any other tense will seem wrong.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

I'm sorry, I did read your first post and that was exactly what I used as my basis for my interpretation on first hearing a sentence with 'I thought...'. I just got confused when you said 'No' to the following question.

AlpheccaStars
AnonymousIf the 'I thought...' sentence is not explicitly followed by 'but...', would you more likely interpret it as a change of opinion, at first thought when you hear it?
No. Let's imagine this conversation.

Are you saying then that the interpretation on first hearing 'I thought' means the thinking about something has changed?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Thanks, CJ.

I think your answers are always much better than mine, clear and to the point!

Regards,
A-

s

CalifJim · Answer

Don't jump to conclusions. Every learner has a different style of learning, and your answers are just as likely to make sense to a learner as anybody else's! That's why we need multiple answers on these threads. The learners understand the concepts better if they see different ways of approaching the same topics.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Sorry for the confusion.

AnonymousIf the 'I thought...' sentence is not explicitly followed by 'but...', would you more likely interpret it as a change of opinion, at first thought when you hear it?"

When I first hear it, I do not interpret it as a change of opinion.

A change of opinion must be explicit. Usually this begins with but.

Yesterday I thought that she was my best friend. (There is no change of opinion in this sentence.)

But now I know she was only pretending to be my friend. I won't speak to her ever again. (Now here I state my change of opinion.)

I thought...

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