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A- “I don’t think he’s coming.”

B- “Well, I think so.”

When I think about B's answer, "Well, I think so." I had the impression that B thinks in the same way as A does. So, B, too, thinks he is not coming.

But then it also seemed ambiguous. If "I think so" means "yes", then B doesn't agree with A, and B wants to mean "Yes, he is coming."

To sum up, I am not quite sure whether B agrees with A or disagrees with A, because I am not sure about whether "I think so" always means "Yes" or it means "I agree with you."

So, I want to ask: Does A and B have the same belief that he is not coming, or does A think he is not coming but B thinks he is coming.?

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    "Well' beginning a response to a statement often indicates doubt or disagreement.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jan 28, 2022 at 11:02
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    @MichaelHarvey So, according to the response, A think he is not coming but B thinks he is coming. So, B disagrees with A. Is that correct?
    – Yunus
    Commented Jan 28, 2022 at 11:25
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    B disagrees with A. B thinks that he is coming.
    – jim
    Commented Jan 28, 2022 at 14:56

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I (British English) would only reply "I think so" in response to a question. An affirmative answer would be:

A: Is he coming?
B: I think so.

There are two negative forms:

B: I think not. - formal
B: I don't think so. - informal

I would use "Well, I think so" to (petulantly) re-affirm my stated opinion after somebody else disagreed with me:

B: I think the weather will be good at the weekend
A: I doubt it!
B: Well, I think so [anyway].

In response to a statement like A's in your example, I would reply with something like the following, depending on the situation.

I think you're right. - agree
Well, I think he will. - disagree

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