How to Say ‘I thought’ in Traditional Chinese
我還以為
wǒ hái yǐ wèi
[waw high ee-way]
💬 Usage Tip: [我還以為] means “I thought...” with the feeling that your guess turned out wrong. Very useful after a close call.
🇹🇼 In Taiwan: At a watch party, saying [我還以為...] invites everyone to jump in with their own dramatic reaction.
Phrase Breakdown
我
wǒ
[waw]
I; me
我 is the basic first-person pronoun, meaning 'I' or 'me.'
我還以為這次會踢進，結果被擋下來了。
I thought this time it would go in, but it got blocked.
還以為
hái yǐ wèi
still thought; I thought (but was mistaken)
A common phrase used when the speaker believed something was true, but later found out it was not.
我還以為你不來了。
I thought you weren’t coming.
Words in this phrase
還
hái
[high]
still; unexpectedly in this phrase
Here 還 adds emphasis in 我還以為, giving the sense of 'I really thought' or 'I was under the impression.'
看到球擦過門柱，我還以為要得分了。
Seeing the ball graze the post, I thought they were about to score.
以為
yǐ wèi
[ee-way]
to think mistakenly; to assume
以為 is used when someone believed something, often before learning the real situation.
我還以為裁判要吹哨了，沒想到比賽還在繼續。
I thought the referee was about to blow the whistle, but the game was still going.
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