Je crois que ce livre est vraiment intéressant.

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Breakdown of Je crois que ce livre est vraiment intéressant.

• être: to be
• le livre: the book
• intéressant: interesting
• ce: this
• vraiment: truly
• que: that
• croire: to believe

Questions & Answers about Je crois que ce livre est vraiment intéressant.

Why do we use que in Je crois que ce livre est vraiment intéressant?

In French, que is required to introduce a subordinate clause. After verbs like croire, penser, or dire (when they’re followed by another clause), you typically use que to link the two parts of the sentence.

Is there a difference between Je crois que and Je pense que?

They are often used interchangeably to convey “I believe that...” or “I think that...”. However, Je crois que can carry a slightly stronger sense of belief, while Je pense que can be more neutral and logical. In everyday speech, they overlap a lot.

Why is it ce livre instead of cet livre?

In French, ce is the masculine demonstrative adjective used before most consonants. Cet is only used before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent “h.” Since livre starts with an l (a consonant), you use ce.

Can we say très intéressant instead of vraiment intéressant?

Yes, you can. Très and vraiment are both adverbs that intensify meaning. Très intéressant suggests it’s “very interesting,” while vraiment intéressant implies it’s “really interesting.” They are quite close in level of emphasis, but vraiment can sound a bit stronger or more genuine in everyday speech.

Why is est used here and not soit or another subjunctive form?

After croire, when the statement is considered factual, you use the indicative mood. The subjunctive (soit) usually appears with croire if it’s used in the negative or if there is some element of doubt. In this case, the speaker is making a straightforward statement of belief, so est is the correct indicative form.