Croire: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Croire means “to believe”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for croire, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with croire, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je crois à cette histoire tous les jours.” — “I believe this story every day.”
- “Tu crois en mes amis tous les jours.” — “You believe in my friends every day.”
- “J'ai cru que Marie va venir cette semaine.” — “I have believed that Marie will come this week.”
- “Il croyait à cette histoire autrefois.” — “He used to believe this story in the past.”
- “Nous croirons en mes amis demain.” — “We will believe in my friends tomorrow.”
- “Tu as cru que Marie va venir cette semaine.” — “You have believed that Marie will come this week.”
- “Je croirais à cette histoire un jour.” — “I would believe this story one day.”
- “Il est important que il croie en mes amis.” — “It is important that he believe in my friends.”
- “Nous avions cru que Marie va venir avant la fête.” — “We had believed that Marie will come before the party.”
- “Il croira à cette histoire demain.” — “He will believe this story tomorrow.”
- “Ils croient en mes amis tous les jours.” — “They believe in my friends every day.”
- “Crois que Marie va venir !” — “Believe that Marie will come!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about this story. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how croire changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of croire below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je crois à cette histoire tous les jours.” — “I believe this story every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je croirai en mes amis demain.” — “I will believe in my friends tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai cru que Marie va venir cette semaine.” — “I have believed that Marie will come this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je croirais à cette histoire un jour.” — “I would believe this story one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Croire in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of croire that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, croire describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is crois: “Je crois à cette histoire tous les jours.” — “I believe this story every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, croire describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is croyait: “Il croyait en mes amis autrefois.” — “He used to believe in my friends in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, croire reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle cru. The je form is ai cru: “J'ai cru que Marie va venir cette semaine.” — “I have believed that Marie will come this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, croire talks about what will happen. The nous form is croirons: “Nous croirons à cette histoire demain.” — “We will believe this story tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, croire talks about what would happen. The tu form is croirais: “Tu croirais en mes amis un jour.” — “You would believe in my friends one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, croire appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is croie, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je croie que Marie va venir.” — “It is important that I believe that Marie will come.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je croire à cette histoire.”
✓ Right: “Je crois à cette histoire.”
The infinitive croire never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form crois.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu crois à cette histoire.”
✓ Right: “Tu crois à cette histoire.”
crois is the je form. With tu you need crois. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je crois à cette histoire hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai cru à cette histoire hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai cru, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu crois en mes amis.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu croies en mes amis.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: croies, not the indicative crois.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je cru à cette histoire.”
✓ Right: “Je ai cru à cette histoire.”
The passé composé of croire needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle cru: the full je form is ai cru.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on croire. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of croire in the Present indicative?
- A) crois
- B) croit
- C) croyons
- D) croyez
What is the tu form of croire in the Present indicative?
- A) crois
- B) croit
- C) croyons
- D) croyez
What is the il/elle form of croire in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons cru
- B) a cru
- C) ai cru
- D) as cru
What is the nous form of croire in the Imperfect?
- A) croyait
- B) croyiez
- C) croyions
- D) croyais
What is the tu form of croire in the Future?
- A) croirons
- B) croiras
- C) croirai
- D) croira
What is the je form of croire in the Conditional?
- A) croirais
- B) croirait
- C) croirions
- D) croiriez
What is the il/elle form of croire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) croyions
- B) croyiez
- C) croie
- D) croies
What is the je form of croire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avions cru
- B) aviez cru
- C) avais cru
- D) avait cru
What is the gerund of croire?
- A) en sentant
- B) en croyant
- C) en aimant
- D) en vivant
What does croire mean in English?
- A) to feel
- B) to believe
- C) to love, to like
- D) to live
Answer key
- A) crois — the je form of croire in the Present indicative is crois. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) crois — the tu form of croire in the Present indicative is crois. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) a cru — the il/elle form of croire in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a cru. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) croyions — the nous form of croire in the Imperfect is croyions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) croiras — the tu form of croire in the Future is croiras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) croirais — the je form of croire in the Conditional is croirais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) croie — the il/elle form of croire in the Present subjunctive is croie. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) avais cru — the je form of croire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais cru. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en croyant — the gerund of croire is en croyant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to believe — croire means “to believe” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does croire mean in English?
croire means “to believe”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is croire regular or irregular?
croire is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, gerund, past-participle. The gerund is croyant and the past participle is cru.
How do I practise croire every day?
Say one sentence with croire in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je crois à cette histoire tous les jours.”, “J'ai cru à cette histoire cette semaine.” and “Je croirai à cette histoire demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for croire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of croire — every tense of croire in one place.
- Croire in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Croire examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Aimer conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Vivre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Sentir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise croire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise croire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise croire with the interactive tool.