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Definition 2024
croire
croire
French
Verb
croire
- to believe, to accept as true
- to believe in, to have faith in
- (reflexive, often followed by an adjective) to think of oneself as, to consider oneself as
- Il se croit parfait. — He thinks he's perfect.
Derived terms
Related terms
Conjugation
Conjugation of croire (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | croire | avoir cru | |||||
| gerund | en croyant | en ayant cru | |||||
| present participle | croyant /kʁwa.jɑ̃/ |
||||||
| past participle | cru /kʁy/ |
||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| 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 historic1 | 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 | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic 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 je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | croie /kʁwa/ |
croies /kʁwa/ |
croie /kʁwa/ |
croyions /kʁwaj.jɔ̃/ |
croyiez /kʁwaj.je/ |
croient /kʁwa/ |
| imperfect1 |
crusse /kʁys/ |
crusses /kʁys/ |
crût /kʁy/ |
crussions /kʁy.sjɔ̃/ |
crussiez /kʁy.sje/ |
crussent /kʁys/ |
|
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | crois /kʁwa/ |
— | croyons /kʁwa.jɔ̃/ |
croyez /kʁwa.je/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Old French
Alternative forms
- craire (Anglo-Norman)
- credre (9th and 10th centuries)
- creire (Anglo-Norman or early Old French)
Etymology
From Latin crēdere, present active infinitive of crēdō.
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
References
- “Appendix E: Irregular Verbs” in E. Einhorn (1974), Old French: A Concise Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-09838-6, page 152