| Principales traductions |
| croire [qch]⇒ vtr | (admettre comme vrai) | believe⇒ vtr |
| | Comment croire un tel ramassis de bêtises ? |
| | How could you ever believe such a load of rubbish? |
| croire que + [indicatif] vtr + conj | (penser, être persuadé) | believe⇒, believe that⇒ vtr |
| | | think⇒, think that⇒ vtr |
| | Je croyais vraiment qu'il avait terminé ses études. |
| | I truly believed (or: believed that) he had finished his studies. |
| | I really thought (or: thought that) he had finished his studies. |
| croire que + [indicatif] vtr + conj | (estimer, penser) | believe + [indicative]⇒, believe that + [indicative]⇒ vtr |
| | | think + indicative]⇒, think that + [indicative]⇒ vtr |
| | Je crois qu'il réussira cet examen. |
| | I believe he will pass this exam. |
| | I think he'll pass this exam. |
| croire que + [indicatif] vtr + conj | (penser) | think⇒, think that⇒ vtr |
| | Je crois qu'il va venir déjeuner avec nous. |
| | I think (or: think that) he is coming to lunch with us. |
| croire faire [qch] loc v | (supposer) | think you can do [sth], think that you can do [sth] v expr |
| | | imagine you can do [sth], imagine that you can do [sth] v expr |
| | | believe you can do [sth], believe that you can do [sth] v expr |
| | Ce jockey croit pouvoir gagner la course. |
| | That jockey thinks he can win the race. |
| croire faire [qch] loc v | (imaginer [qch]) | think + [indicative]⇒, think that + [indicative]⇒ vtr |
| | | believe + [indicative]⇒, believe that + [indicative]⇒ vtr |
| | Je croyais l'avoir déjà vu avant. |
| | Je crois me souvenir que c'est bientôt ton anniversaire, non ? |
| | I thought I had seen her somewhere before. |
| | I believe I remember that your birthday is coming up, isn't it? |
| croire [qch/qqn] vtr | (se fier à [qqn]) | believe⇒ vtr |
| | C'est mon fils, je crois ce qu'il dit. Ne t'en fais pas, moi, je te crois. |
| | He's my son and I believe what he says. Don't worry; I believe you. |
| croire à vtr ind | (être persuadé d'une existence) | believe in [sth], believe in [sb] vi + prep |
| | Mon fils croit encore au Père Noël. |
| | My son still believes in Father Christmas. |
| croire en [qqn] vtr ind | (avoir confiance en [qqn]) | believe in [sb] vtr phrasal insep |
| | | have faith in [sb] v expr |
| | J'ai toujours cru en lui et je l'ai soutenu. |
| | I have always believed in him and supported him. |
| se croire⇒ v pron | (avoir une impression) | think⇒ vtr |
| | On se croirait au cirque ici. |
| | You'd think you were at a circus. |
| se croire v pron | familier (penser que l'on est) | think you are [sth] v expr |
| | (literary) | think yourself [sth] v expr |
| | Elle se croit drôle ? Cet équilibriste se croit invincible. |
| | Does she think she's funny? |
Formes composées
croire | croître |
| à croire que loc adv | (comme si) | you'd think, you'd think that expr |
| | | anyone would think, anyone would think that expr |
| | Et le petit garçon avait encore fait tomber son jouet. À croire qu'il le faisait exprès. Il n'y a pas d'embouteillages pour aller au travail le matin, c'est à croire que nous sommes en pleines vacances d'été. |
| | The little boy had dropped his toy again; you'd think he was doing it on purpose. |
| | There aren't any traffic jams on the way to work in the morning; anyone would think it's the middle of the summer holidays. |
| à en croire [qqn] loc adv | (selon [qqn]) | if [sb/sth] is to be believed expr |
| | | according to [sb/sth] expr |
| | À en croire ce journal, le loup est de retour dans le cœur de la France. |
| | If this newspaper is to be believed, wolves have reestablished themselves in the central regions of France. |
aimer à penser,
aimer à croire loc v | (espérer) | like to believe, like to think v expr |
| | Cette mère aime à penser que son fils est le plus beau. |
| avoir peine à croire que loc v | (croire difficilement que) | hardly be able to believe that⇒, scarcely be able to believe that⇒ v |
| | I can hardly believe he actually left his wife. |
| croire au père Noël loc v | figuré (être naïf) (figurative) | believe in Santa Claus v expr |
| | (UK, figurative) | believe in Father Christmas v expr |
| | Si tu penses pouvoir gagner de l'argent sans payer d'impôts, tu crois au père Noël ! |
| croire bon de faire [qch] loc v + prép | (estimer nécessaire de faire [qch]) | think it right to do [sth] v expr |
| | | think it best to do [sth] v expr |
| | | think you should do [sth], think you ought to do [sth] v expr |
| croire dur comme fer à [qch] loc v + prép | (être persuadé de [qch]) | be firmly convinced of [sth], be firmly persuaded of [sth] v expr |
| croire en sa bonne étoile vi | (être optimiste) | have faith your luck will hold v expr |
| | Malgré la complexité de la tâche, il croit en sa bonne étoile. |
| croire en soi loc v | (avoir confiance en ses capacités) | believe in yourself, have confidence in yourself v expr |
| | Tous les grands sportifs croient en eux. |
| croire le contraire loc v | (penser l'inverse) | believe the opposite v expr |
| croire savoir loc v | (penser connaître) | think you know v expr |
| | I think I know where she is hiding. |
| croire [qqn] sur parole loc v | (croire [qqn] sans douter) | take [sb]'s word for it v expr |
| | Il le croyait sur parole. |
| | He took his word for it. |
| difficile à croire loc adj | (incroyable) | difficult to believe adj |
| être difficile à croire loc v | (être aberrant, incongru) | be hard to believe, be difficult to believe v expr |
| | | be unlikely, seem unlikely vi + adj |
| être fondé à croire loc v | (avoir de solides raisons de penser [qch]) | have good reason to think [sth] v expr |
| | | have cause to think [sth], have good cause to think [sth] v expr |
| | Les jurés sont fondés à croire que l'accusé ment. |
| faire croire [qch] à [qqn] loc v + prép | (faire passer [qch] de faux pour vrai) | make [sb] believe [sth] v expr |
| | Le directeur fait croire aux journalistes que son usine embauchera 200 personnes. |
| | The director makes the journalists believe that his factory will take on 200 people. |
| il faut croire expr | (il semble, a priori) | it appears, it seems expr |
| | | apparently adv |
| il faut croire que expr | (sans doute que) | it appears, it seems expr |
| | | apparently adv |
| il faut le voir pour le croire expr | (c'est difficilement croyable) | you have to see it to believe it, it has to be seen to be believed expr |
| | | seeing is believing expr |
il faut pas croire,
il ne faut pas croire,
faut pas croire expr | familier (contrairement à ce que l'on pense) | don't go thinking, don't go assuming expr |
| Je veux bien croire que expr | (certes) | I'd really like to believe, I'd really like to believe that expr |
| | Je veux bien croire que tu travailles mais les résultats ne sont pas là. |
| | I'd really like to believe you're working, but the evidence suggests otherwise. |
| Je veux bien le croire. expr | (cela ne m'étonne pas) | I can well imagine, I can well believe it expr |
| | - Élever des triplés, ce n’est pas de tout repos ! - Je veux bien le croire ! |
| laisser croire [qch] à [qqn] loc v | (ne pas détromper) | suggest⇒ vtr |
| ne pas en croire ses yeux loc v | (être stupéfait) | not believe your eyes v expr |
| peiner à croire⇒ vtr | (avoir du mal à croire [qch]) | find it difficult to believe, find it hard to believe v expr |
| | | have trouble believing v expr |
| | Je peine à croire que Simon ait fait une chose aussi atroce ! |
| sans trop y croire loc adv | (sans grande conviction) | with no real conviction expr |
| se croire en pays conquis loc v | (faire comme si on était chez soi) | think you own the place v expr |
| | | think you can lord it over everyone v expr |
| | Les citadins se croient souvent en pays conquis à la campagne. |
| se croire en terre conquise loc v | (faire comme si on était chez toi) | think you own the place v expr |
| | Je ne le supporte pas, il se croit en terre conquise. |
| se croire le centre du monde loc v | figuré (se croire important) | think the world revolves around you, think everything revolves around you v expr |
| | (informal) | think you are it v expr |
| | Ce footballeur se croit le centre du monde. |
| se croire le meilleur loc v pron | (être imbu de soi) | think you are the best v expr |
| se croire obligé de faire [qch] loc v pron | (penser devoir faire [qch]) | feel obliged to do [sth] v expr |
| | | feel you have to do [sth] v expr |
| se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter loc v | (être imbu de soi) | think you are God's gift v expr |
| se croire supérieur loc v pron | (être imbu de soi) | think you are superior v expr |
| | | think you are better than [sb] v expr |
| se croire tout permis loc v pron | (agir sans demander l'accord) | think you can do whatever you like v expr |
| | | have a sense of entitlement v expr |
| Tu ne vas pas le croire ! expr | (tu vas trouver ça incroyable) | You're not going to believe this expr |
| veuillez croire à mes sentiments les meilleurs expr | (salutations en fin de courrier) (letter addressed to [sb] by name) | Yours sincerely expr |
| | (letter addressed to Sir/Madam) | Yours faithfully expr |
| | (US) | Sincerely yours expr |
| | (US or slightly informal) | Sincerely adv |
| Note: formule adressée à une femme |
| | Veuillez croire, Madame la Présidente, à mes sentiments les meilleurs. Pierre Durand |