believe
part of speech
verb (believe, believes, believed, believing); noun belief
meaning for a pupil
1) To believe something means to think it is true. tree →
2) To believe someone means to trust that they are telling the truth. tree →
3) To believe in something means to feel sure it exists or is good, such as believing in yourself. tree →
4) «I believe…» can also mean «I think, but I am not completely sure». tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: To believe the LORD means to trust Him and to rely on His word, not just to think He exists. Interpretation: Abraham's belief counted as "righteousness," and tradition takes this as the model of faith as trust. Believing is also listed among the main ideas of Judaism, as in the thirteen principles of faith. In the primary lessons: In science we should believe things because of evidence: we test and check, not just trust what someone says. In stories, whether a character believes another tells us about trust, tricks and lies. In safety lessons: don't believe a stranger who says your parent sent them unless they know the family password. Phrases: believe in, can't believe, believe it or not, make-believe.
examples
- Yet in this thing ye do not believe the LORD your God, (Torah DEU.1.32, JPS 1917) tree →
- And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness. (Torah GEN.15.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- And they told him, saying: 'Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.' And his heart fainted, for he believed them not. (Torah GEN.45.26, JPS 1917) tree →
- 'Who would have believed our report? (Prophets ISA.53.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- Then believed they His words; they sang His praise. (Writings PSA.106.12, JPS 1917) tree →
- Moreover, they scorned the desirable land, they believed not His word; (Writings PSA.106.24, JPS 1917) tree →
- I believe that the Earth goes around the Sun, because scientists have measured it. tree →
- Do you believe me? I really did see a rainbow. tree →
- I can't believe how fast you ran! tree →
- She believes in herself, so she tried again. tree →
- Believe it or not, a snail can sleep for a very long time. tree →
- Long ago many people believed the Earth was flat. tree →
- Don't believe everything you read online; check it. tree →
- The little girl played make-believe with her dolls. tree →
- Do not believe everything you hear. tree →
note
Spelling: «i before e» — believe, belief. The noun is «belief», plural «beliefs». «Believe» is not usually used in the -ing form for opinions («I believe», not «I am believing»). Believing something does not make it true; evidence does.
In the corpora
- And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.
- Yet in this thing ye do not believe the LORD your God,
- 'Who would have believed our report?
- If I had not believed to look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! —
- Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «believe» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.