Believe past tense

Meaning of believe

accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of.

Infinitive

Word: believe /bɪˈliːv/

Examples:

1. She always believes the best in people, no matter the circumstance.
2. They believe honesty is the most important policy in any relationship.
3. I believe that effort and perseverance lead to success in life.

Past Simple

Word: believed /bɪˈliːvd/

Examples:

1. I believed him when he said he would come back before dusk.
2. They believed in the project's success despite the challenges.
3. She believed in fairy tales as a child, thinking they were real.

Past Participle

Word: believed /bɪˈliːvd/

Examples:

1. The story was believed by everyone in the village.
2. The proposal has been believed to be the best solution by the committee.
3. The rumor was believed to be true by many before the truth was revealed.

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Bare infinitive

To express a current, general state of thinking or feeling. This usage is common when stating facts, general truths, or regular habits or actions.
Example. I believe honesty is the best policy.
Example. He always believes the best in people, no matter what.
Example. We believe she arrives tomorrow. (In the context where 'believe' acts similarly to 'think' or 'expect.')
To describe a habitual action or routine. This is used when indicating something that someone usually thinks or feels on a regular basis.
Example. I believe honesty is the best policy.
Example. He always believes the best in people, no matter what.
Example. We believe she arrives tomorrow. (In the context where 'believe' acts similarly to 'think' or 'expect.')
To express a scheduled event in the near future (less common with 'believe,' but applicable to the Present Simple tense).
Example. I believe honesty is the best policy.
Example. He always believes the best in people, no matter what.
Example. We believe she arrives tomorrow. (In the context where 'believe' acts similarly to 'think' or 'expect.')

Past Simple

To describe a past state of thinking or feeling that is no longer true. It indicates that someone held a certain belief in the past which may or may not have changed in the present.
Example. They believed the Earth was flat many centuries ago.
Example. When I was young, I believed in fairies.
Example. She always believed the news without questioning it when she was a teenager.
To narrate a specific instance in the past where someone held a belief. This is used to indicate a particular moment or period in history when certain beliefs were held.
Example. They believed the Earth was flat many centuries ago.
Example. When I was young, I believed in fairies.
Example. She always believed the news without questioning it when she was a teenager.
To describe a habitual action or routine in the past. This indicates a regular thinking or feeling pattern someone had in the past.
Example. They believed the Earth was flat many centuries ago.
Example. When I was young, I believed in fairies.
Example. She always believed the news without questioning it when she was a teenager.

Past Participle

In perfect tenses to describe actions or states at unspecified or different times. Present Perfect. Used to talk about life experiences up to now or actions/situations that have an impact on the present moment.
Example. She has always believed in giving people a second chance.
Example. By the time the evidence was presented, the jury had already believed him innocent.
Example. By next year, we will have believed in this cause for a decade.
Example. His theory was widely believed by the scientific community.
Past Perfect. Used to talk about actions or situations that were completed before another past action.
Example. She has always believed in giving people a second chance.
Example. By the time the evidence was presented, the jury had already believed him innocent.
Example. By next year, we will have believed in this cause for a decade.
Example. His theory was widely believed by the scientific community.
Future Perfect. Used to talk about actions that will be completed before a specified future time.
Example. She has always believed in giving people a second chance.
Example. By the time the evidence was presented, the jury had already believed him innocent.
Example. By next year, we will have believed in this cause for a decade.
Example. His theory was widely believed by the scientific community.
In passive voice to indicate that the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action. the Past Participle is used after a form of 'to be' to convey actions or states directed toward the subject.
Example. She has always believed in giving people a second chance.
Example. By the time the evidence was presented, the jury had already believed him innocent.
Example. By next year, we will have believed in this cause for a decade.
Example. His theory was widely believed by the scientific community.

Common mistakes

— 01

Confusing patterns

A common mistake when using the past simple and past participle forms of the verb 'believe' is treating it as an irregular verb. Unlike irregular verbs that change their form entirely or significantly (e.g., go/went/gone), 'believe' is a regular verb, meaning its past simple and past participle forms are created by adding -ed to the base form. The correct past simple form is 'believed,' and the past participle form is also 'believed.' Mistakenly, some might think it follows an irregular pattern and change the word more than necessary.

— 02

Incorrect conjugating

Another error involves misusing 'believed' in compound tenses, such as the present perfect or past perfect, which require the use of the past participle. The mistake happens when learners use the base form or the past simple form instead of the past participle. For instance, saying 'I have believe' or 'I had believed' (using 'believed' correctly here as an example of what should be done) when it should be 'I have believed' demonstrates a misunderstanding of how to conjugate verbs in compound tenses correctly.

— 03

Omitting Auxiliary Verb

A frequent mistake is omitting the auxiliary verb 'have' in perfect tenses when using the past participle 'believed.' For example, saying 'I believed in miracles since I was a child' instead of the correct 'I have believed in miracles since I was a child' shows a failure to recognize the structure of the present perfect tense, which links past actions to the present using 'have' or 'has' plus the past participle form of the verb.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the past simple form of 'believe'?

The past simple form of 'believe' is 'believed.' It is used to describe actions or states that were true in the past and are no longer true at the moment of speaking. For example. 'I believed in fairy tales when I was a child.'

How is the past participle form of 'believe' used?

The past participle form of 'believe' is also 'believed.' It is primarily used in perfect tenses and the passive voice. In perfect tenses, it combines with forms of 'have' to indicate actions or states that occurred at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continue into the present. For example, in the present perfect tense. 'I have always believed in honesty.' In passive voice constructions, it is used to indicate that the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action, e.g., 'He was believed to be the best in his field.'

Can you give an example of 'believed' in a sentence using the past perfect tense?

Yes. In the past perfect tense, 'believed' is used to talk about a past action that occurred before another action in the past. Here's an example. 'By the time the truth was revealed, everyone had already believed the rumor.' This sentence indicates that believing the rumor happened before the truth was revealed. Is there any difference in pronunciation between the past simple and past participle forms of 'believe'