A sentient being is a being with the ability to think intelligently, commonly determined by the being's ability to speak, manipulate tools, and reason. Lifeforms lacking such capabilities are classified as non-sentient, though some classification systems have a middle ground, semi-sentient, for species that had very primitive capabilities to manipulate tools, use language, and/or solve problems. The Precursors are thought to be transsentient, above normal sentient life forms in intelligence.