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I always hear ～なぁと思った, but I don't know if it comes from:

食べるかなーと思った。 or like
きれいだなーと思った。 or
寒いなーと思った。

I think this sound　なーと思う is so relaxing and so nice, that I want to use it. But actually I would like to know how is used and where.

Related to it, I was thinking if we can use a suffix before と思う, like:

  • そのパソコンは高いねと思ってた。I was thinking how expensive is that computer (is it ok?)
  • あの道は危なくないさと思う。I think that street is safe.
  • 。。。
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I think particles like "よ", "さ", and "ね" sound a little strange before "と思う". If you think about what you're doing when you say "I think", you're essentially quoting your own inner dialogue. Using particles that are normally meant to elicit agreement from (ね), or convey information to (よ,さ), a second party to a conversation make that inner dialogue sound a little schizophrenic. It's just not logical in my opinion. On the other hand, particles like "なぁ", "か", "かな", sound fine.　

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  • are there more particles that I can use?
    – daniel tomio
    Sep 18, 2011 at 17:06
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    I'm sure there are. Think through the logic of using them. Note also that I'm not saying that people don't use these particles when they think to themselves, or that they couldn't be used to describe a thought process you have gone through. I'm saying that, in stating your opinion about something to someone else, saying 「高いよと思う」 rather than 「高いと思うよ」　sounds odd. For example, something like 「そのときは辛かったけど、頑張るよと思ってて、やっとうまく出来るようになってきた。」 seems OK to me.
    – rdb
    Sep 19, 2011 at 4:13
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I think your first three examples and the first one in the list below are all fine, but the very bottom one with 思う doesn't work.

Putting particles before と思った is useful as a way of adding a voice or nuance to your thoughts at the time, but when it comes to と思う, there's no time difference to make that necessary. さ could just as easily (and should) go after 思う.

EDIT: Hmm. Maybe I have the wrong approach to this one, because かなーと思う is sounding fine... :|

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