''i miss you'' 我想念你 ''i think about you'' 我在想关于你的事 / 我在思考你这个人 ''i want you''. 我要你 My question is how can I differentiate the meanings? for instance if I want to tell a friend that I think about them.. will they think that i'm saying that I miss them? if you only say 我想你 sometimes, it depends on the context and the relationship between you and your friend. normally，if you say 我想你only ， your Chinese friend will understand by ''i miss you'' if you say 我在想你 XXXX ， plus what exact you are thinking, i mean for example"I am thinking about you that whether you will come tomorrow" then they would not misunderstand at all.

Haha , this is an interesting question . It made me laugh when SonGoku said that he/she doesn't understand the difference in English . Anyway I would say 我正在想你 ， for "I am thinking about you" . But I could be wrong . Can a Chinese person please tell us how you would translate 我正在想你 to English ? Is it "I am thinking about you." or is it also "I miss you ."

by situation for all Chinese "how do i know the difference when" the only answer is "situation"

As far as I know, 我想你 means and only means I miss you. Sorry I don't understand it when you say "I think about them". What does that mean? I want you -- 我(想)要你

for the miss you meaning it should be 'xiang nian' 想念 to make it clear, I think