Page 231 - Easy Japanese - Learn to Speak Japanese Quickly! (TUTTLE)

dokidoki (-suru) ドキドキ（する） nervous; excited (heart-
pounding)
hotto-suru ほっとする feel relieved; feel
comforted

GRAMMAR NOTE Expressing Thoughts

In Japanese, to say “I think…”, you do so using the quotation particle /to/
followed by the verb omou “think”.

I’i aidea da to omou. I think it’s a good idea.
I’i aidea ja nai to omoimasu. I don’t think it’s a good idea.

These expressions are complex structures in which a smaller sentence (e.g., “it’s

a good idea”) is embedded in a larger sentence “I think it’s a good idea”. The
embedded sentence reflects the actual thought as it occurs, thus the tense in the
quotation remains as it was in the original thought. Compare the following.
Mēru ga kita to omotta. I thought that an email had
come.

Mēru ga kuru to omotta. I thought that an email would
come.

The predicate in the quoted sentence must always be in the Informal form.

However, you can choose between the formal and informal form for the
predicate of the larger sentence, and that determines the style of the entire
sentence.