French Verb Focus: Croire or ‘To Believe’

Croire means to believe or think. It is irregular: notice that the i changes to y in the first and second personal plural (nous and vous) forms of the present tense. The past participle, cru, is of course also irregular.

PRESENT TENSE

Je crois – I think, I believe
Tu crois – you think, you believe (sing.fam.)
Il croit – he/it thinks, he/it believes
Elle croit – she/it thinks, she/it believes
Nous croyons – we think, we believe
Vous croyez – you think, you believe (pol.pl.)
Ils croient – they think, they believe (m.)
Elles croient – they think, they believe (f.)

PERFECT TENSE – PASSE COMPOSE

J’ai cru – I have thought/believed, I thought/believed, I did think/believe
Tu as cru – you have thought/believed, you thought/believed, you did think/believe
Il a cru – he/it has thought/believed, he/it thought/believed, he/it did think/believe
Elle a cru – she/it has thought/believed, she/it thought/believed, she/it did think/believe
Nous avons cru – we have thought/believed, we thought/believed, we did think/believe
Vous avez cru – you have thought/believed, you thought/believed, you did think/believe
Ils/Elles ont cru – they have thought/believed, they thought/believed, they did think/believe

FUTURE TENSE

Je vous croirai – I will believe you.
Toi aussi, tu croiras que oui – You will think so too.
Il ne me croira pas – He will not believe me.
Elle n’en croira rien – She won’t believe a word of it.
Nous le croirons quand nous le verrons – We will believe it when we see it.
Est-ce que vous croirez vos amis? – Will you believe your friends?
Ils croiront n’importe quoi – They will believe anything.
Elles ne croiront personne – They will not believe anyone.

IMPERFECT TENSE

Je croyais avoir oublié de fermer la porte à clé. – I thought I had forgotten to lock the door.

CONDITIONAL TENSE

Je ne croirais que ce que j’avais vu de mes propres yeux. – I would only believe what I had seen with my own eyes.

IMPERATIVE

crois
croyons
croyez

SUBJUNCTIVE

Il faut que je croie ce qu’ils disent – I must believe what they say.

With thanks to Elizabeth Allen