Just my opinion but for volitionalと思っている form I think I prefer "I've been thinking" to "I'm thinking" in that it captures the fact that you started thinking/feeling that you will do something in the past and have continued to hold onto that thought. (as compared with volitionalと思う which is an on the spot decision which imo the "I think" translation already perfectly captures) At least that's the impression I get from Genki II (3rd edition p75)
The grammar type information on this is incorrect（when you click on Verb:Volitional).
They are formed by changing the 'u' in the last character to 'o' (う>え,く>け,す,せ) / changing る to よ, then adding a う.
Should be
They are formed by changing the 'u' in the last character to 'ou' (う>おう,く>こう,す＞そう) / changing る to よう。
Also, I've only seen this form as volitional+思っている. Can someone else more proficient verify if it if it should be ともう or the ＋ている form for an ongoing action?
Thanks - I went ahead and took out the conjugation information (since it's not really enough space to get into godan/ichidan) and simply gave a link to the much more in-depth grammar page.
So, here is what I can say I have learnt about volitional + と思っている or と思う .
The first one is used when you have already made some thinking/planning on what you are saying you are going to/ intend to do.
The other one, と思う is used when you make your mind on the spot. This is what my grammar book (genki II)read in short.
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That's generally true, but it's a little more complicated than that in practice.
[b][size=12pt]「週末、泳ごうと思っている。」[/size][/b]
[i]I'm thinking of going swimming this weekend.[/i]
(like you said, you've already been thinking about it prior to making the statement)
[b][size=12pt]「週末、泳ごうと思う・・・」[/size][/b]
[i]I think I might go swimming this weekend...[/i]
(this construction has the impression of a very low chance that you will actually go swimming, and is thus usually continued something like the following examples)
[b]
[size=12pt]「週末、泳ごうと思うけど、まだ分からない。」[/size][/b]
[i]I think I might go swimming this weekend, but I'm not sure yet.[/i]
[b][size=12pt]「週末、泳ごうと思うんだけど、寒いだろうな。」[/size][/b]
[i]Well, I think I might go swimming this weekend, but I wonder if it will be cold.[/i]
If people really need to show that they just decided something on the spot, they seem to tend to use something like this construction:
[b][size=12pt]「週末、泳ごうとした。」[/size][/b]
[i]I've decided to go swimming this weekend.[/i]
