# believe



## jeebs

Hi all,

How do I spell the word "believe" in Portuguese?

NOT in a sentence like "I choose to believe you", but rather the singular word - "believe" by itself.

Thank you!


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## metaphrastes

Hi jeebs, be welcome to the Portuguese forum.

See that Portuguese verbs are *highly *inflected, that is, they will have a different form and ending according tense, person, number, &c. I will give a few examples, and if you still lacks the verbal form you need, please ask again.

There are basically two translations to "to believe". In Infinitive mood:

*crer - acreditar *(to believe)
In Indicative mood, present tense:

*Eu creio, eu acredito *(I believe)
*Tu crês, tu acreditas *(you believe, singular number)
*Ele crê, ele acredita *(he believes)
*Ela crê, ela acredita *(she believes)
*Nós cremos, nós acreditamos* (we believe)
*Vós credes, vós acreditais* (you believe, plural number)
*Eles crêem, eles acreditam* (they believe)
I believe it may have helped.


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## jeebs

Hello!

Thank you for your help metaphrastes!!

I believe = Eu Creio, eu acredito.....so essentially 4 sounds/words in portuguese.  Must I include all 4 words/sounds in order to achieve "I believe"?


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## pfaa09

jeebs said:


> Must I include all 4 words/sounds in order to achieve "I believe"?


No. The word "believe" means "acreditar" *or* "crer", We can use both, they have the same meaning.
I believe we use "acreditar" more often.
Back to the main question, you asked about how to spell "believe" in portuguese.
What are you asking exactly?


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## metaphrastes

pfaa09 said:


> No. The word "believe" means "acreditar" *or* "crer", We can use both, they have the same meaning.


Yes, as pfaa said.

I would just add that though both words are synonymous, _"acreditar" _is used in general in more coloquial speech, say, as _"I can't believe that guy did this or that..." "Não acredito que aquele gajo fez isto ou aquilo...". "Crer" _is, so to speak, more solemn, either with a religious meaning or about any more serious issue on human relations, such as _"I believe in one God..." "Creio em um [só] Deus..." _or _"I believe you are saying me the truth" (in an important issue), _that would be _"Creio que me estás a dizer a verdade".
_
One may sure use _"acreditar" _in a more solemn or serious context, but frankly the word is much weaker when one is speaking about important truths.


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## jeebs

thanks pfaa and metapgrastes.

my cousin was looking to write an essay and the title she chose was "believe".  it was related to life and beliefs.......she didn't know the exact 1 word to use in the title.


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## Vanda

She can either use infinitive or imperativo: Acreditar or Acredite.


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## mglenadel

jeebs said:


> thanks pfaa and metapgrastes.
> 
> my cousin was looking to write an essay and the title she chose was "believe".  it was related to life and beliefs.......she didn't know the exact 1 word to use in the title.



In translating titles, one must read the whole work before deciding on the best translation (obviously one can just do an _ad hoc_ translation for the title up front and after completing the translation go back and make sure it makes sense/fits well). Titles are often 'misleading' in that they may make use of double meanings, or even a single but less common meaning. Often the chosen title will bear little resemblance to the original.


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## Joca

jeebs said:


> Hi all,
> 
> How do I spell the word "believe" in Portuguese?
> 
> NOT in a sentence like "I choose to believe you", but rather the singular word - "believe" by itself.
> 
> Thank you!



Do you need the verb or the noun? All the other members are talking only about the verb: crer or acreditar.

If you need the noun, it may be: (a) crença


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## Archimec

Joca, parece-me que crença seria "belief". "Believe" é um verbo, creio eu.


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## metaphrastes

Archimec said:


> Joca, parece-me que crença seria "belief". "Believe" é um verbo, creio eu.


Sim, está certo. Mas a língua inglesa costuma transformar substantivos ou até preposições em verbos *tão facilmente*, que o post original pode não ter levado em conta a diferença. E, na prática, o uso dum nome pode ser uma boa solução, também.


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## Archimec

"believe" também pode ser um imperativo, se não me engano.


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## Joca

Archimec said:


> Joca, parece-me que crença seria "belief". "Believe" é um verbo, creio eu.



Sei disso, Archimec, mas pensei no substantivo porque ele mencionou singular.


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## Vanda

Se tivéssemos conhecimento do teor da tese, poderíamos dar mais sugestões, mas, pra começar, dificilmente
haveria uma tese com uma única palavra no título, já que este precisaria ter mais explícito o assunto. Se não for tese,
que seja um artigo para uma revista popular ou coisa parecida, a liberdade é o limite.


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## Ari RT

Ao pé da letra é verbo. Mas eu confesso que também fiquei achando que o jeebs não soube se expressar. Ele quer a definição de believe, MAS NÃO NUMA FRASE, como "I believe in you", e sim A PALAVRA SOZINHA. Concordo com Joca, a pergunta pode ter sido "misleading". Com um pouco mais de contexto, a dúvida já teria sido sanada.


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## Archimec

jeebs said:


> How do I spell the word "believe" in Portuguese?



jeebs está simplesmete a pedir (how *to spell*) _como se escreve, ou soletra,_ a palavra portuguêsa que corresponde a “believe’.
...e, como se diz em inglês,_ he got more than he bargained for...
_


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## Ari RT

Resta saber se a dose de informação não foi _too much to handle._


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## easyirate

jeebs said:


> Hi all,
> 
> How do I spell the word "believe" in Portuguese?
> 
> NOT in a sentence like "I choose to believe you", but rather the singular word - "believe" by itself.
> 
> Thank you!



"Believe" is translated as "Acreditam" in Portuguese.


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