I just realized today that for some reason I'm pretty uncomfortable with
things like そう思う because the Japanese そう has a meaning akin to saying isn't
that _so_ in English. But when you say そう思う, そう is being treated as what's
being thought, right? So is it more appropriate to say そうと思う？Because it is the
subject in this case, right?
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2013-10-12T05:59:15.573
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grammar
A closer look at そう思う
The そう is 副詞/an adverb (meaning #1 in
[そう【然う】](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/127918/m0u/%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86/))
and the subject for the verb 思う can be 私, あなた etc. (can be omitted), depending
on the context. Like, わたしは*そう*(≒そのように/そんなふうに)思います。I think so / that way.
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2013-10-12T06:38:24.410
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I think you are misunderstanding the grammatical use of そう as in そう思う、そう（だ）and
other "fundamentals" such as the use of と（as in と思います, という etc)：

そう＆こう are used to refer to the previous sentence and are used with a verb like
an adverb.

eg

> 困ったとき助けてくれる友達がいる。 **そう** 思うと安心する。
>
> I have a friends who help me when I am in trouble. When I remember **this**
> , I relax.
>
> _(Reference: 新完全マスターN３文法 p１３４）_

so

> そう思う＝ I think [the previous sentence is true/correct]

and

> そうだ ＝ That statement (or sentence) is true/correct.
>
> そうですか= (literally in a grammatical sense) Is that statement so / true?

by extension:

> そうだと思う ＝ "I think that statement (or sentence) is true/correct"

Here you are stating what you think is correct but you are not certain.

そうと思う might be understood but I don't think it works for reasons explained in
the accepted answer to the following question:

[When is 「だ／である」required between a noun and the quotation particle
と?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6950/1478)
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2013-10-12T06:46:47.333
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