In English, a subjective statement or a likewise question is often introduced by either of these phrases:
- I reckon [that] … – Do you reckon [that] …? (dialectal)
- I think [that] … – Do you think [that] …?
- I believe [that] … – Do you believe [that] …?
- I feel [that] … – Do you feel [that] …?
The first three have been dealt with in Are there any differences between "I believe" vs "I think" vs "I reckon"? already, but feel hasn’t been covered as far as I can tell. To me, I think is the strongest statement about the validity of what follows, but I believe can imply at least as strong an endorsement. When I hear or see I feel introducing a testable statement it leaves me with the impression that the individual uttering it neither has the commitment shown by I believe nor the expertise required for I think and lacks the confidence of either.
Am I right to do so or do most native speakers use think, believe and feel interchangeably in a truly synonymous fashion? What are the reasons to choose one over the other then, different levels of politeness perhaps or just personal habits?
Best Answer
This probably comes under the category of pragmatic linguistics. It is certainly very important in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
People perceive the world via different modalities (vision, sound, feeling etc.).
In NLP it is asserted that a person's speech and writing will betray their dominant modality (modalities). Thus a person who is very visual (perhaps an artist) is likely to use visual terminology, e.g. instead of saying "I understand what you are saying" a visual person might say "I see what you mean", a musician might perhaps say "That sounds correct" and a sculptor could say, "I have a feeling you are right."
If you subscribe to this view then which a person chooses is personal to them. For that reason there is no objective way to compare such expressions except in the context of the individual who is using them.