Questions & Answers about Я часто думаю о них.
Both о and про can mean about, but they are used a bit differently.
о них is more neutral and slightly more formal. It’s the default, especially in:
- careful speech
- writing
- more serious topics
Example idea: I often think about them (seriously / in general).
про них is more colloquial and often feels a bit more casual or chatty.
Example idea: I often think about them (like I keep them in mind / they’re on my mind in everyday life).
In your sentence, Я часто думаю о них is the standard, neutral way to say it. Я часто думаю про них is also possible in many contexts and doesn’t sound wrong, just more conversational.
Because о requires the prepositional case, and них is the prepositional form of они.
The pronoun они (‘they’) declines like this:
- Nominative (subject): они – they
- Genitive: их – of them / their
- Dative: им – to them
- Accusative: их – them (direct object)
- Instrumental: ими – with them
- Prepositional: о них / в них / на них – about them / in them / on them
The preposition о (об, обо) always takes the prepositional case, so you must use них, not их:
- о ком? о чём? – about whom? about what?
- о них – about them
All three mean about, but their use depends on pronunciation (ease of speaking), not meaning.
They’re followed by the prepositional case:
- о – the default:
- о нём, о ней, о них
- об – used before words beginning with a vowel or certain consonant clusters, to make pronunciation smoother:
- об этом, об одном человеке
- обо – used in a few fixed cases, mainly:
- обо мне, обо всём, обо всех
With них, the natural form is о них, not об них or обо них.
Я часто думаю о них is the most neutral, natural order.
Other possible orders (all grammatically correct, but with different emphasis):
Я думаю о них часто.
Slight stress on often – like adding a little emphasis: I think about them often (as opposed to rarely).Часто я думаю о них.
Emphasis on часто at the beginning; stylistically a bit more expressive: Often, I think about them.Я о них часто думаю.
Emphasis that you often think specifically about them (not someone/something else).
Word order in Russian is flexible, but:
- Putting часто right after the subject (Я часто думаю...) is the default, neutral choice.
Yes. In Russian, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:
- думаю clearly indicates я (I).
So all of these are possible:
- Я часто думаю о них. – fully explicit, neutral.
- Часто думаю о них. – a bit more informal / conversational; still perfectly normal.
- Часто о них думаю. – also possible, with a slight stylistic/intonation difference.
In writing (e.g., in a textbook sentence), Я часто думаю о них is the safest and most standard.
Думаю is present tense, imperfective aspect.
- думать (imperfective) – to think (ongoing, repeated, habitual)
- Я часто думаю о них. – I often think about them.
The common perfective partner is подумать:
- Я подумал о них. – I thought about them (once / at some point, completed act).
- Я должен подумать о них. – I should think about them (at least once / for a while).
You cannot use the perfective подумать in the simple present to mean habitual action. So:
- Not: Я часто подумаю о них (wrong for “I often think about them”)
- Use: Я часто думаю о них (imperfective for repeated action).
Both can mean to think about, but there are tendencies:
думать о (ком/чём) – more neutral, standard, and works in:
- formal speech and writing
- serious / abstract topics
Examples: - думать о будущем – to think about the future
- думать о семье – to think about (one’s) family
думать про (кого/что) – more colloquial; often with:
- everyday topics
- stories, opinions, gossip
Examples: - Что ты думаешь про этот фильм? – What do you think about this movie?
- Я думаю про тебя. – I’m thinking about you. (sound quite casual/intimate)
In Я часто думаю о них, о них is the normal textbook choice. про них would be more conversational.
Key points:
- Я – like English ya.
- ча́сто – stress on ча: ЧА-сто.
- The о at the end is unstressed, so it sounds close to “uh”: [чáста].
- ду́маю – stress on ду: ДУ-ма-ю.
- The final -ю is like “yoo”, but softer.
- о них – often flows together in speech: [а н’их]
- о is unstressed, reduced toward “a”.
- них has a soft н’ before и.
Roughly: [я чáста дӯмаю а н’их].
No. In the present tense, verbs in Russian do not show gender, only person and number.
- я думаю – I think (male or female speaker)
- ты думаешь – you think
- он думает – he thinks
- она думает – she thinks
- мы думаем – we think
Gender appears in the past tense and some other forms:
- я думал – I (male) thought
- я думала – I (female) thought
But in Я часто думаю о них, there is no gender information.
Both are correct; the difference is in emphasis and style.
Я часто думаю о них.
- Neutral, everyday word order.
- Slight focus on the action (I often think about them).
Часто я думаю о них.
- Bringing часто to the front makes often more prominent.
- Sounds a bit more expressive, sometimes a bit literary or emotional:
Often, I find myself thinking about them.
In normal conversation, Я часто думаю о них is more common and neutral.