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Au fond, je pense qu'elle est triste.

Au fond, je pense qu'elle est triste.
Deep down, I think she is sad.
From Lesson 201:Opinion and belief verbs (penser que, croire que)·French

Breakdown of Au fond, je pense qu'elle est triste.

être
to be
elle
she
penser
to think
triste
sad
au fond
deep down

Questions & Answers about Au fond, je pense qu'elle est triste.

Why is est in the indicative here? Doesn't penser express an opinion?
In French, affirmative verbs of opinion and belief (like penser and croire) actually take the indicative. This is because you are stating what you consider to be a reality or a fact in your own mind. That's why we use the normal present tense est instead of the subjunctive.
What if I wanted to make this negative and say 'I don't think she is sad'?
Then you would need the subjunctive! If you say Je ne pense pas qu'elle..., the negative phrase introduces doubt and subjectivity. The sentence would change to Je ne pense pas qu'elle soit triste.
Can I drop the qu' and just say je pense elle est triste, like dropping 'that' in English?
No, you can never drop que (or its shortened form qu' before a vowel) in French! While in English we often skip the word 'that' ('I think she is sad'), French strictly requires que to connect the two parts of the sentence.
What does au fond mean literally?
Literally, au fond means 'at the bottom' (for example, the bottom of a pool or the ocean). In everyday conversation, it is used figuratively to mean 'deep down', 'at heart', or 'basically'.

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