う・よう + と思(おも)うI think I will, I think I shall, Going to, Gonna (Volitional + と思う)

The combination of a verb with the auxiliary verb う, or よう, followed by the う-Verb 思(おも)う gives us the common expression ようと思(おも)う. This expression is often translated as 'I think I will (A)', or 'I shall (A)'. It is also close to the casual expression 'I'm gonna (A)'.

Remembering that う and よう can have one of three possible meanings in Japanese (as discussed in the よう grammar point), ようと思(おも)う is usually only used to express one of those three. That 'one' is as follows:

意志(いし) - Expresses intentions (has a similar meaning to ～するつもりだ）.

This expression is also often used with 思(おも)っている. In these cases, it highlights that the intention of the speaker is something that they regularly think, or have been thinking about for some time.

思(おも)っている may also be used when describing the intentions of another person, as discussed in our lesson about と思(おも)う.

Caution

Let's be careful to remember the difference between the auxiliary verbs よう, and ようだ. They are different constructions that have different meanings, and behave in unique ways grammatically.