Croire is the verb to believe — and, like English "believe," it does double duty as the verb to think (in the sense "have an opinion that"). It is one of the highest-frequency verbs in French because so much of conversation runs on tentative assertions: je crois que, je ne crois pas, tu crois ?, je n'arrive pas à le croire.
The defining feature is the stem alternation between croi- and croy-. The singular present and the third-person plural use croi-; the nous and vous forms use croy- (with a y). That distribution propagates into the imparfait and subjunctive in the same shape it takes in voir, fuir, envoyer — a small pattern of four-way alternation typical of French verbs whose Latin ancestor had a stem-final glide.
The literary passé simple uses the u-pattern (je crus, tu crus, il crut, nous crûmes, vous crûtes, ils crurent). Auxiliary in compound tenses is avoir.
A critical orthographic note: the past participle of croire is cru (no circumflex). The form crû with a circumflex belongs to a different verb — croître (to grow). This is one of the most-tested distinctions in French dictées.
This page is the full reference: every paradigm, every compound tense, the prepositional contrasts (croire à vs croire en vs croire que), and the high-frequency idioms.
The simple tenses
These are the tenses formed without an auxiliary — the basic conjugational paradigms.
Présent de l'indicatif
The split-stem irregularity. Singular and third-plural croi-, nous / vous croy-.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | crois | /kʁwa/ |
| tu | crois | /kʁwa/ |
| il / elle / on | croit | /kʁwa/ |
| nous | croyons | /kʁwajɔ̃/ |
| vous | croyez | /kʁwaje/ |
| ils / elles | croient | /kʁwa/ |
The four forms crois / crois / croit / croient are pronounced identically — /kʁwa/. Only nous croyons and vous croyez break the pattern phonetically, with the y spelling realized as the glide /j/.
Je crois qu'il va pleuvoir cet après-midi.
I think it's going to rain this afternoon.
Tu crois vraiment ce qu'il raconte ?
Do you really believe what he's saying?
On croit ce qu'on veut, mais les faits sont là.
People believe what they want, but the facts are there.
Imparfait
Built on the plural-present stem croy- plus the regular imparfait endings. Note the double yi in nous croyions and vous croyiez — the y is the stem, and the -ions / -iez endings start with i. Both letters must be written.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | croyais |
| tu | croyais |
| il / elle / on | croyait |
| nous | croyions |
| vous | croyiez |
| ils / elles | croyaient |
The -yi- spelling is one of the most-failed exam points in French orthography. Nous croyions (imparfait) and que nous croyions (subjunctive) are spelled identically — and both keep the y and i separately. Don't drop the i.
Quand j'étais enfant, je croyais aux fées.
When I was a child, I believed in fairies.
Nous croyions que tout allait s'arranger, mais ça n'a pas été le cas.
We thought everything was going to work out, but it didn't.
Passé simple (literary)
The u-pattern. Used in literary writing and historical narration.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | crus |
| tu | crus |
| il / elle / on | crut |
| nous | crûmes |
| vous | crûtes |
| ils / elles | crurent |
The nous and vous forms carry the circumflex (crûmes, crûtes). The third-person singular crut has no circumflex — but watch out: crût with a circumflex is the literary subjunctive imperfect of croire (and identically the passé simple of croître, "grow"). These minimal pairs are stock material for traditional dictées.
Personne ne le crut, et pourtant il disait la vérité.
No one believed him, and yet he was telling the truth. (literary)
Ils crurent un instant qu'il s'agissait d'une plaisanterie.
For a moment they thought it was a joke. (literary)
Futur simple
Stem croir- (drop the -e of the infinitive, add the futur endings). Completely regular.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | croirai |
| tu | croiras |
| il / elle / on | croira |
| nous | croirons |
| vous | croirez |
| ils / elles | croiront |
Personne ne te croira si tu racontes ça.
No one will believe you if you say that.
Quand ils verront les photos, ils croiront enfin.
When they see the photos, they'll finally believe.
Conditionnel présent
Same stem croir- as the futur, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | croirais |
| tu | croirais |
| il / elle / on | croirait |
| nous | croirions |
| vous | croiriez |
| ils / elles | croiraient |
Je ne te croirais jamais sans preuve.
I'd never believe you without proof.
On croirait entendre ma grand-mère quand tu parles.
You sound just like my grandmother when you talk.
That last sentence shows a high-frequency idiom: on croirait + infinitive (or que + indicative) means "you'd think / it sounds like / it looks like." A native French speaker uses it constantly to flag a striking impression.
Subjonctif présent
The same stem split as the present indicative: singular and third-plural croi- (with -e/-es/-e/-ent endings), nous / vous croy-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | croie |
| (que) tu | croies |
| (qu')il / elle / on | croie |
| (que) nous | croyions |
| (que) vous | croyiez |
| (qu')ils / elles | croient |
Same -yi- trap as in the imparfait: que nous croyions, que vous croyiez. Both letters must be written.
Je ne pense pas qu'il me croie.
I don't think he believes me.
Il faut que vous croyiez en vous, sinon personne d'autre ne le fera.
You have to believe in yourselves, otherwise no one else will.
Impératif
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | crois |
| (nous) | croyons |
| (vous) | croyez |
Crois-moi, ce restaurant est le meilleur de la ville.
Trust me, this restaurant is the best in town.
Croyez-en mon expérience, ne signez pas avant de relire.
Take it from me — don't sign before rereading. (formal)
The imperative crois-moi is one of the most-used formulae in spoken French — equivalent to "trust me," "take my word for it." Memorize it as a unit.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: cru / crue / crus / crues (vowel u, NO circumflex — the form crû with circumflex belongs to croître, "to grow")
- Participe présent: croyant
- Gérondif: en croyant
En croyant bien faire, il a tout aggravé.
Thinking he was doing the right thing, he made everything worse.
C'est une histoire à peine crue, mais elle est vraie.
It's a barely believed story, but it's true.
The masculine singular past participle cru and the feminine crue fall together, in writing, with adjectives meaning "raw" (viande crue — raw meat) and the noun crue meaning "flood." Context disambiguates.
The compound tenses
Croire takes avoir as its auxiliary. Past participle cru.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + cru
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | ai cru | I believed / I thought |
| tu | as cru | you believed |
| il / elle / on | a cru | he/she/we believed |
| nous | avons cru | we believed |
| vous | avez cru | you believed |
| ils / elles | ont cru | they believed |
J'ai cru que tu ne viendrais plus.
I thought you weren't going to come anymore.
On a tous cru à son histoire au début.
We all believed his story at first.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + cru
J'avais cru comprendre qu'on partait à dix heures, mais visiblement non.
I had thought I understood we were leaving at ten, but apparently not.
Futur antérieur
avoir (futur) + cru
Quand il verra les preuves, il aura enfin cru.
When he sees the proof, he will finally have believed.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + cru
J'aurais cru que tu serais plus prudent que ça.
I would have thought you'd be more careful than that.
Subjonctif passé
avoir (subjonctif) + cru
Je suis surpris qu'il ait cru à cette histoire.
I'm surprised he believed that story.
Core uses
1. Croire que + indicative — think, believe (have an opinion)
The default declarative use. Je crois que introduces a tentative assertion — equivalent to English "I think that" / "I believe that." The verb in the que-clause is indicative when croire is in the affirmative.
Je crois qu'il a raison sur ce point.
I think he's right on this point.
On croit qu'il y aura beaucoup de monde au concert.
We think there will be a lot of people at the concert.
Tu crois qu'elle viendra ?
Do you think she'll come?
2. Ne pas croire que + subjunctive — the affirmation/negation shift
This is one of the highest-yield grammar points in French. When croire (or penser) is negated, the verb in the que-clause shifts to the subjunctive — because negating belief introduces uncertainty. When the affirmative is restored, the verb returns to the indicative.
Je crois qu'il est honnête.
I think he's honest. (indicative — affirmative)
Je ne crois pas qu'il soit honnête.
I don't think he's honest. (subjunctive — negative)
Tu crois qu'elle viendra ?
Do you think she'll come? (indicative — interrogative, leaning affirmative)
Crois-tu qu'elle vienne ?
Do you believe she'll come? (subjunctive — interrogative with the inversion implies real doubt)
The pattern is part of a wider French rule: predicates of belief, opinion, and assertion take the indicative when affirmative and the subjunctive when negated or strongly questioned. Memorize je crois que + indicative / je ne crois pas que + subjunctive as a unit.
3. Croire à + thing — believe in the existence or reality of
When the object is a noun (an idea, a story, a phenomenon), French uses the preposition à. Croire à asserts that you accept the existence or reality of the thing.
Je ne crois pas aux fantômes.
I don't believe in ghosts.
Tu crois à l'astrologie, toi ?
Do you believe in astrology?
Il croit encore au père Noël à neuf ans.
He still believes in Santa Claus at nine years old.
4. Croire en + person / abstract — have faith in, trust
When the object is a person (especially God, a leader, oneself) or an abstract value (the future, justice, science), French often uses en. The distinction with croire à is real but subtle: croire en expresses faith and trust, croire à expresses acceptance of existence.
Je crois en Dieu, mais je ne pratique pas.
I believe in God, but I don't practice.
Crois en toi, tu es capable.
Believe in yourself, you're capable.
Il croit en l'avenir de cette entreprise.
He has faith in the future of this company.
The pair croire à / croire en is a tested point: je crois à l'amour (I accept that love exists) vs je crois en l'amour (I have faith in love). The line is genuinely blurry and many speakers blend the two — but the en form leans more toward trust and conviction, the à form more toward acceptance of reality.
5. Croire + person — believe what someone says
When the direct object is a person, croire means "believe what that person says" — there is no preposition.
Je te crois.
I believe you.
On ne l'a pas crue, et c'était une erreur.
We didn't believe her, and it was a mistake.
Il a tellement menti que personne ne le croit plus.
He's lied so much that no one believes him anymore.
High-frequency idioms
- crois-moi / croyez-moi — trust me, take my word for it
- je n'en crois pas mes yeux / mes oreilles — I can't believe my eyes / ears
- à n'en pas croire ses yeux — unbelievable (literary register)
- on croirait que / on dirait que — it looks like / it sounds like (introducing a striking impression)
- faire croire à quelqu'un que — to make someone believe that, to deceive
- se croire
- adjective — think one is (often pejorative: il se croit malin, he thinks he's clever)
- qui l'eût cru ? — who would have thought? (literary, with the literary subjonctif imparfait eût)
- je crois bien que — I'm pretty sure that
Crois-moi, tu vas regretter de ne pas être venu.
Trust me, you're going to regret not coming.
Je n'en crois pas mes yeux — il a vraiment fini avant nous ?
I can't believe my eyes — he really finished before us?
On dirait du printemps, alors qu'on est en plein janvier.
It feels like spring, even though we're in the middle of January.
Il se croit irrésistible, mais personne ne lui parle.
He thinks he's irresistible, but no one talks to him.
Je crois bien que c'est elle qui a raison.
I'm pretty sure she's the one who's right.
Comparison with English
Three friction points for English speakers:
- The affirmation/negation subjunctive shift has no English parallel. English uses the same form regardless of polarity ("I think he's right," "I don't think he's right"). French requires the indicative when affirmative and the subjunctive when negative — je ne crois pas qu'il soit là is not optional.
- The preposition trio croire que / à / en is finer-grained than English "believe." English collapses all three uses; French distinguishes propositional content (croire que), existential reality (croire à), and trusting faith (croire en).
- The past participle is bare cru — no circumflex. Crû with circumflex belongs to croître (to grow). The circumflex carries the entire distinction in writing.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Indicative after a negated croire.
❌ Je ne crois pas qu'il est là.
Wrong — when *croire* is negated, the *que*-clause takes the subjunctive: *qu'il soit là*.
✅ Je ne crois pas qu'il soit là.
I don't think he's there.
Mistake 2: Adding a circumflex to the past participle.
❌ J'ai crû tout ce qu'il disait.
Wrong — *crû* with a circumflex is the past participle of *croître* (to grow). For *croire* (to believe), it's bare *cru*.
✅ J'ai cru tout ce qu'il disait.
I believed everything he said.
Mistake 3: Dropping the i in nous croyions.
❌ Nous croyons que tout irait bien.
Wrong tense — *nous croyons* is the present (we believe). For the imparfait, you need *nous croyions* (we used to believe / we believed).
✅ Nous croyions que tout irait bien.
We thought everything would go well.
Mistake 4: Using en with an existential idea where à is required.
❌ Je ne crois pas en les fantômes.
Marked — for ghosts, ufos, magic, fairies (existence claims), French strongly prefers *à*.
✅ Je ne crois pas aux fantômes.
I don't believe in ghosts.
Mistake 5: Treating croire quelqu'un as needing a preposition.
❌ Je crois à toi.
Wrong — when you mean 'I believe you' (i.e., what you're saying), *croire* is direct: *je te crois*.
✅ Je te crois.
I believe you.
(Note: je crois en toi is correct, but it means "I have faith in you," not "I believe what you're saying.")
Key takeaways
Croire splits its stem between croi- (singular and third-plural) and croy- (nous, vous). The same split structures the imparfait and the subjunctive, where the -yi- spelling (croyions, croyiez) is a perpetual dictée trap. Futur and conditionnel use croir-; the past participle is the bare cru — no circumflex (crû belongs to croître, "to grow"). Auxiliary in compound tenses is avoir, with participle agreement only on a preceding direct object.
The high-stakes grammar point is the affirmation/negation subjunctive shift: je crois qu'il vient (indicative) vs je ne crois pas qu'il vienne (subjunctive). The three prepositional patterns — croire que + clause (think that), croire à + thing (accept reality of), croire en + person or abstract (have faith in) — coexist in everyday French and carry real semantic weight.
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