croire
French
Etymology
From Old French creire, croire, from Latin crēdere, present active infinitive of crēdō, from Proto-Italic *krezðō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱred dʰeh₁- (“to place one's heart, i.e. to trust, believe”), compound phrase of oblique case form of *ḱḗr (“heart”) and *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).
See cognates in regional languages in France : Norman creire, Gallo craire, Picard croère, Bourguignon croire, Franco-Provençal crêre, Occitan creire or créser, Corsican credè.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kʁwaʁ/
audio (file)
Verb
croire
- (transitive) to believe (someone)
- Il jure qu'il dit la vérité. Je ne le crois pas.
- He swears that he's telling the truth. I do not believe him.
- Je crois que c'est vrai.
- I believe that it is true.
- to believe, to accept as true [+ à (something)]
- Croire à quelque chose ― To believe in something.
- Les français croient à l'amour.
- The French believe in love.
- Croyez-vous à l'existence de Dieu?
- Do you believe (in) the existence of God?
- Nous croyons à la venue du messie.
- We believe in the coming of the Messiah.
- to believe, to have faith [+ en (object) = in]
- 2013, Zaz, Je rentre
- Je fais la promesse de ne plus croire en ce qui me ment, de ne me nier dans ma souffrance.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- croire en quelqu'un, en quelque chose ― I have faith in someone, ...in something.
- Oui, je crois en Dieu.
- Yes, I believe in God.
- Je crois en toi.
- I have faith in you.
- Il ne croit qu'en soi.
- He only believes in himself.
- 2013, Zaz, Je rentre
- (reflexive, often followed by an adjective) to think of oneself as, to consider oneself as
- Il se croit parfait.
- He thinks he's perfect.
Conjugation
Conjugation of croire (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | croire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | croyant /kʁwa.jɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cru /kʁy/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | crois /kʁwa/ | crois /kʁwa/ | croit /kʁwa/ | croyons /kʁwa.jɔ̃/ | croyez /kʁwa.je/ | croient /kʁwa/ |
| imperfect | croyais /kʁwa.jɛ/ | croyais /kʁwa.jɛ/ | croyait /kʁwa.jɛ/ | croyions /kʁwaj.jɔ̃/ | croyiez /kʁwaj.je/ | croyaient /kʁwa.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | crus /kʁy/ | crus /kʁy/ | crut /kʁy/ | crûmes /kʁym/ | crûtes /kʁyt/ | crurent /kʁyʁ/ | |
| future | croirai /kʁwa.ʁe/ | croiras /kʁwa.ʁa/ | croira /kʁwa.ʁa/ | croirons /kʁwa.ʁɔ̃/ | croirez /kʁwa.ʁe/ | croiront /kʁwa.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | croirais /kʁwa.ʁɛ/ | croirais /kʁwa.ʁɛ/ | croirait /kʁwa.ʁɛ/ | croirions /kʁwa.ʁjɔ̃/ | croiriez /kʁwa.ʁje/ | croiraient /kʁwa.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | croie /kʁwa/ | croies /kʁwa/ | croie /kʁwa/ | croyions /kʁwaj.jɔ̃/ | croyiez /kʁwaj.je/ | croient /kʁwa/ |
| imperfect2 | crusse /kʁys/ | crusses /kʁys/ | crût /kʁy/ | crussions /kʁy.sjɔ̃/ | crussiez /kʁy.sje/ | crussent /kʁys/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | crois /kʁwa/ | — | croyons /kʁwa.jɔ̃/ | croyez /kʁwa.je/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- à en croire
- croire dur comme fer
- croire sur parole
- croyez-le ou non
- il faut le voir pour le croire
- ne pas croire si bien dire
- ne pas en croire ses oreilles
- ne pas en croire ses yeux
- que tu crois
- recroire
- se croire le premier moutardier du pape
- se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter
- tel est pris qui croyait prendre
Related terms
- croyance
Descendants
- Saint Dominican Creole French: crére
- Haitian Creole: kwè
Further reading
- “croire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Old French
Alternative forms
- credre, creidre (archaic)
- craire, creire (northern)
Etymology
From Latin crēdere.
Pronunciation
- (archaic) IPA(key): /ˈkrei̯ðrə/
- (classical) IPA(key): /ˈkroi̯rə/, (northern) /ˈkrei̯rə/
Verb
croire
- to believe
- (reflexive, se croire) to think oneself (to be)
- Se croire li rois - to think oneself to be the king
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem croi distinct from the unstressed stem cre, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of croire (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | croire | avoir creü | |||||
| gerund | en creant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | creant | ||||||
| past participle | creü | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses | present | croi | croiz | croit | creons | creez | croient |
| imperfect | creoie, creeie | creoies, creeies | creoit, creeit | creïiens, creïens | creïiez, creïez | creoient, creeient | |
| preterite | crui, creï | creüs, creïs | crut, creï | creümes, creïmes | creüstes, creïstes | crurent, creïrent | |
| future | crerai | creras | crera | crerons | creroiz, crereiz, crerez | creront | |
| conditional | creroie, crereie | creroies, crereies | creroit, crereit | creriiens, creriens | creriiez, creriez | creroient, crereient | |
| compound tenses | present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses | present | croie | croies | croie | creons | creez | croient |
| imperfect | creüsse, creïsse | creüsses, creïsses | creüst, creïst | creüssons, creüssiens, creïssons, creïssiens | creüssoiz, creüssez, creüssiez, creïssoiz, creïssez, creïssiez | creüssent, creïssent | |
| compound tenses | past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | croi | — | creons | creez | — | ||
Descendants
- French: croire
- Norman: creire, craithe
References
- “Appendix E: Irregular Verbs” in E. Einhorn (1974), Old French: A Concise Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 152
Romanian
Etymology
From croi + -re.
Noun
croire f (plural croiri)
- tailoring
Declension
Declension of croire
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (o) croire | croirea | (niște) croiri | croirile |
| genitive/dative | (unei) croiri | croirii | (unor) croiri | croirilor |
| vocative | croire, croireo | croirilor | ||
References
- croire in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN