What do you think?

In daily life, we sometimes hear the phrase “What do you think?” in a conversation between two people or between many people.

1. “What do you think?” is a phrase that often opens an idea: The listener is surprised by what the speaker, the person opposite them, has just said during the previous conversation, exchange, or presentation.

“What do you think?” is an abbreviation of “What do you think you said that way?” (“You/ I… think you said that way?”), which is shortened in the above dialogue context. After that phrase, there is usually an explanation of something, a detail, an opinion, an argument that the next speaker wants to express, which is different from what the other person said before. It can even be something, a detail, a detail, an argument that is completely opposite to the previous speaker’s idea, when before that, they may not have fully understood each other.

“What do you think?” is sometimes the opening phrase of a seller’s response to a buyer’s offer of an item, when the buyer offers a price that is too low compared to the seller’s offer. This phrase can be found in spontaneous seafood markets, where the seller says to the buyer: “What do you think is the freshness of my net fish? That’s the price you’re offering.”

“What do you think?” is mostly an exchange between friends; from here, they (the listener - the speaker) can exchange intimately and closely with each other. This phrase is usually said by an older person to a younger person. There are also a few cases where it is the opening statement of a sentence by a younger person to an older person.

“What do you think?” is also sometimes used by the next speaker in discussions in a unit according to the plan, work program, work progress of the unit, exchanging ideas of a previous participant. Before the listener explains the information again, the previous speaker may agree, or not really agree.

2. “What do you think?” can also appear in another conversational context.

“What do you think?” can also be the listener’s response to the speaker when the speaker mentions a third person and in that context, the speaker has mentioned the third person in a way that is not consistent with that person’s character, qualities, or behavior. The listener has exchanged back.

Or in a conversational context: The first person tells the second person about something that the third person did that was not quite appropriate. For example: “I don’t understand what A. was thinking when he bought that food for his wife when she was so sick?”; or: “I don’t understand what B. was thinking when he didn’t support his father with money for his medical treatment when he had the financial means?”.

There are many other instances where the phrase “What do you think?” is used by people talking to each other, both in person and over the phone.

3. The presentation, then the listener's explanation or rebuttal, in the midst of that exchange, the phrase "What do you think?" is a way to connect ideas, helping the conversation and exchange between the interlocutors to easily come to an understanding of the issue being discussed, the story being presented, and the person being talked about.

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