Slip-ups: How to use believe, belief
Last week we looked at how to use the two words which are pronounced the same but are spelt differently and don’t mean the same: cause and course.
Today, we’re looking at the words believe and belief.
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Ideally, these words should not confuse people, since believe is a verb, while belief is a noun.
To all intents and purposes, believe must be used as a doing word, while belief, as a noun, must be used as the name of something --- an idea, a feeling, etc.
The verb believe means:
- to be sure that something is true or that someone is telling the truth, as in:
You shouldn’t believe everything you hear about others.
We must believe him, even though he has lied to us before.
- to think that something is true or possible, although you are not completely sure, as in:
The police believe that the suspect did not work alone.
John is believed to have stolen the money.
Note that believe is not used in the continuous or progressive sense: believing, except in the expression: Seeing is believing, which means I’ll believe it when I see it.
Belief, on the other hand, means:
- the feeling that something is definitely true or definitely exists, as in:
It is my belief that we will be awarded the first prize.
It was mum’s strong belief in God that saw her through the challenging times.
- the feeling that something is good and can be trusted, as in:
If you’re selling something, you must have genuine belief in what you’re selling.
- an idea that you believe to be true, especially concerning religion, politics, the economy, etc, as in:
The belief in life after death is not Biblical.
Now, given these definitions of the words believe and belief, we can see that the sentences:
Our believe is that we live with our ancestors.
I don’t belief him when he says he’ll return next week.
The believe in ghosts and spirits is widespread among Africans.
are incorrect.
Can you correct them?