thought this works

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "thought this works" is not correct in standard written English.
It seems to be an attempt to express a belief or assumption about something functioning properly, but it lacks proper grammatical structure. An example could be: "I thought this works, but it seems there is an issue."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

News & Media

Science

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

4 human-written examples

I thought: "This works in real life.

The New York Times

I thought, 'This works for everyone else and it doesn't work for me, so something's wrong with me.' When I was about 20, this group kind of came together.

The New York Times

Then he read a piece of it at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, "and the audience seemed interested," Mr. Gurney said, "and people asked what comes next, and I thought, this works!" And squeezing it in, Mr. Gurney said, at Lincoln Center on dark nights at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater worked.

The New York Times

On the Opie and Anthony radio show in April 2013 comedian Louis CK talked about his recent trip down under, and explained how he thought this works: "In Australia moms and dad pirate video.

Vice

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

56 human-written examples

"No one in the Pentagon I've spoken with thought this would work," he said.

Vice

According to the irreligious interpretation of Hume's Treatise, the constructive or "positive" side of Hume's thought in this work — his "science of man" — must be understood in terms of his concern to establish a secular, scientific account of moral and social life.

SEP

Many of the thoughts of this work are observed in Cicero's essay, but are not necessarily borrowed from Aristotle.

University of Chicago

Release all bad thoughts, this really works, forget about all that is bugging you.

WikiHow

This thought exercise works for any situation where you feel as though you are being forced to give presents, money, or time.

BBC

A thought experiment can show how this works.

Huffington Post

This works because "the thought process is not designed to be continuous," he says.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When expressing a belief or assumption, ensure correct subject-verb agreement and use appropriate verb tenses. For example, use "I thought this worked" or "I believe this works" instead of "thought this works".

Common error

Avoid using the base form of the verb after "I thought" without proper conjugation. Always conjugate the verb to match the subject and tense.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "thought this works" functions as an incomplete statement expressing an assumption or belief. However, it lacks a subject and proper verb conjugation. Ludwig AI indicates that this phrasing is not standard in written English.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

50%

Science

25%

Academia

25%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "thought this works" is grammatically incorrect and should be avoided in formal writing. Ludwig AI confirms this assessment, suggesting alternative phrases like "I thought it worked" or "I believed this worked". While the phrase appears in various contexts, its incorrect grammar lowers its suitability for professional or academic use. Pay close attention to subject-verb agreement and verb tense when expressing similar ideas. To avoid errors, it's best to use properly structured sentences with clear subjects and conjugated verbs.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

I thought it worked

Changes the pronoun and verb tense for grammatical correctness.

I believed this worked

Replaces "thought" with "believed" and adjusts the sentence structure.

I assumed this would work

Uses "assumed" and changes the verb to "would work" for better grammar.

I figured this works

Replaces "thought" with "figured", maintaining a similar level of formality.

I had the thought this works

Adds "had the thought" to clarify the sentence.

I was under the impression this works

Expresses the idea as an impression, which is more formal.

It seemed to me this works

Changes the start of the sentence to "It seemed to me".

My thinking was that this works

Rephrases as "My thinking was" to be clearer.

I'm of the opinion this works

A more formal alternative using "I'm of the opinion".

This seemed like it works

Changes the structure to "This seemed like".

FAQs

What's the correct way to say "thought this works"?

The grammatically correct alternatives are "I thought "it worked"", or "I believed "this worked"".

Can I use "thought this works" in informal conversation?

While it might be understood, it's best to use grammatically correct phrases such as "I thought "it worked"" or "I thought "this works"" even in informal settings.

What can I say instead of "thought this works" to sound more professional?

For a more professional tone, use phrases like "I assumed "this would work"" or "I believed "this would work"".

Is "thought this works" grammatically correct?

No, "thought this works" is grammatically incorrect. A correct alternative would be "I thought "this worked"" or "I thought "it would work"".