thinking

Compared meaning: the act or process of thinking (noun).

比较义项：思考的行为或过程（名词）。

• thought

  Thought highlights a general mental act, often in set phrases like 'deep in thought' or 'a moment of thought'; it feels more reflective and is rarely modified by adjectives describing reasoning quality.

  thought 强调一次泛指的思考行为，常出现在固定搭配中，如“a moment of thought”（沉思片刻）或“deep in thought”（陷入沉思）；语气更偏内省，很少与描述推理质量的形容词搭配。

  After a moment of thought, she quietly gave her answer.

  沉思片刻后，她静静地给出了答案。

• thinking 本词

  Thinking highlights the ongoing process or style of reasoning, often modified by adjectives like 'clear' or 'critical', and can mean someone's personal view, as in 'my thinking on this'.

  thinking 强调持续进行的思考过程或思维方式，常与“clear”（清晰的）、“critical”（批判性的）等形容词连用，也可表示某人的个人看法，如“my thinking on this”（我对此事的看法）。

  Please explain your thinking before you answer the question.

  请在回答问题之前先说明你的思路。

Thought and thinking both relate to mental activity. Thought often appears in phrases like deep in thought, meaning a moment of reflection. Thinking means an ongoing process of reasoning, as in clear or critical thinking. Thought's other meaning, a single idea, is not compared.

这两个词在“思考”这一义项上意义相近，但语气和用法有别：thought 常用于固定搭配（如“a moment of thought”“沉思片刻”、“deep in thought”“陷入沉思”），强调一次思考的行为或沉思的状态；thinking 强调持续进行的思考过程或思维方式，常与表示推理质量的形容词连用（如“clear thinking”“清晰的思路”、“critical thinking”“批判性思维”）。这里不比较 thought 表示“一个具体想法”的义项（如 I have a thought to share，“我有个想法要分享”）。