How do you conjugate croire in French?

Present: je crois, tu crois, il croit, nous croyons, vous croyez, ils croient. The imperfect is je croyais, the future je croirai, and the past participle cru, giving j'ai cru.

What's the difference between croire à and croire en?

Croire à accepts that something exists or works: je crois à la chance, elle croit aux fantômes. Croire en places trust in a person or an ideal: je crois en toi, il croit en Dieu. Both come out as believe in in English.

Does croire que take the subjunctive?

Not when it's affirmative: je crois qu'il a raison uses the indicative. Negate or question it and the subjunctive appears: je ne crois pas qu'il ait raison, croyez-vous qu'il ait raison ?

What is the past participle of croire?

Cru, with no accent, used with avoir: j'ai cru, nous avons cru. Don't confuse it with crû, the participle of croître (to grow), which keeps a circumflex precisely to avoid that confusion.

Is croire or penser more natural for 'I think'?

Both are used constantly, and je crois que is if anything commoner in speech and slightly less assertive. Reach for penser when you mean to intend (je pense partir) or to have an opinion about something (que penses-tu de ce film ?).

French grammar · Intermediate

Croire in French: Conjugation, Croire À, Croire En, and Croire Que

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Croire means to believe, and very often simply to think. Its conjugation hinges on a y that appears in the plural (nous croyons) and vanishes in the singular (je crois). What follows it matters just as much: croire à points at a thing or an idea, croire en at a person, and croire que switches to the subjunctive as soon as you make it negative.

Je crois qu'il a raison.

I think he's right.

What it is

Croire is one of a small family of verbs (with voir and fuir) whose stem ends in a y that only survives before a pronounced ending. That gives you je crois but nous croyons, and it explains every apparent irregularity in the paradigm.

Je crois, tu crois, il croit, nous croyons, vous croyez, ils croient. — I believe, you believe, he believes, we believe, you believe, they believe.

How to spot it

Listen for the ending. Where the ending is silent, the stem is croi-; where the ending is pronounced, the stem is croy-. That single rule generates the present, the imperfect and the subjunctive.

Je crois cette histoire. — I believe this story.
Nous croyons ce qu'il dit. — We believe what he says.
Elles croient au destin. — They believe in fate.
Tu croyais vraiment ça ? — Did you really believe that?

Ils croient has no y and no extra syllable: it sounds identical to il croit. Only the spelling tells them apart.

Croire Quick Reference

What can follow croire

Structure	Meaning	Example
croire + noun	to believe something	je crois cette histoire — I believe this story
croire + person	to believe someone	crois-moi — believe me
croire à + thing or idea	to believe in the existence of	il croit à la chance — he believes in luck
croire en + person	to have faith in	je crois en toi — I believe in you
croire que + indicative	to think that	je crois qu'il pleut — I think it's raining
ne pas croire que + subjunctive	not to think that	je ne crois pas qu'il vienne — I don't think he'll come
croire + infinitive	to think one is doing	je crois avoir compris — I think I've understood

Common Croire Examples in French

Croire across its main jobs:

Believing a Person or a Statement

Je te crois.: I believe you.
Personne ne l'a cru.: Nobody believed him.
Crois-moi, c'est une mauvaise idée.: Believe me, it's a bad idea.
Il ne croit pas un mot de cette histoire.: He doesn't believe a word of that story.

The person believed is a direct object: je te crois, je le crois. No preposition is involved.

Croire À and Croire En

Elle croit aux fantômes.: She believes in ghosts.
Je crois en toi.: I believe in you.
Il ne croit plus à l'amour.: He doesn't believe in love any more.
Nous croyons en Dieu.: We believe in God.

À for things and abstractions, en for people and for faith. Both translate as in, which is why they get mixed up.

Croire Meaning Think

Je crois qu'il est déjà parti.: I think he's already left.
Tu crois qu'elle va accepter ?: Do you think she'll accept?
Je crois que oui.: I think so.
On croirait qu'il va pleuvoir.: You'd think it was going to rain.

In conversation this is croire's commonest use, and it's interchangeable with je pense que.

In the Past

J'ai cru entendre du bruit.: I thought I heard a noise.
Nous avons cru à une plaisanterie.: We thought it was a joke.
Je croyais que tu étais en vacances.: I thought you were on holiday.
Elle n'en croyait pas ses yeux.: She couldn't believe her eyes.

J'ai cru marks a belief you have since dropped; je croyais describes what you assumed all along.

How Croire Works

One spelling rule accounts for the forms, and three structural choices account for the meaning.

The Y Appears Before a Pronounced Ending

The underlying stem is croy-. It surfaces as croy- in nous croyons, vous croyez and je croyais, where the ending is heard, and collapses to croi- everywhere the ending is silent.

Nous croyons encore à ce projet.

We still believe in this project.

Silent ending, croi-; heard ending, croy-.

À for Things, En for People

Croire à means to accept that something exists or works: croire au progrès, croire à sa version. Croire en places trust in someone or in an ideal: croire en soi, croire en la justice.

Il croit au succès de son équipe, et il croit en son entraîneur.

He believes in his team's success, and he believes in his coach.

À = it exists; en = I trust it.

Affirmative Croire Que Takes the Indicative

When you say you believe something, you are asserting it, so the clause after que stays in the indicative. Je crois qu'il est malade, not qu'il soit malade.

Je crois qu'elle a déjà répondu.

I think she has already replied.

Positive belief, indicative.

Negative and Question Forms Take the Subjunctive

Deny or query the belief and the clause becomes uncertain, which brings in the subjunctive: je ne crois pas qu'il vienne, croyez-vous qu'elle ait raison ?

Je ne crois pas que ce soit une bonne idée.

I don't think that's a good idea.

Doubt in the main clause, subjunctive after it.

Croire Plus Infinitive Keeps the Subject

When the believer and the doer are the same person, French drops que and uses an infinitive: je crois avoir compris rather than je crois que j'ai compris. It sounds tidier and slightly more careful.

Elle croit avoir laissé ses clés au bureau.

She thinks she left her keys at the office.

Same subject, use the infinitive.

Common Mistakes with Croire

Incorrect: Je crois en les fantômes. — I believe in ghosts.

Correct: Je crois aux fantômes. — I believe in ghosts.

Things and abstractions take à, and à + les always contracts to aux. En is reserved for people and for ideals you put your trust in.

Incorrect: Je crois qu'il soit malade. — I think he's ill.

Correct: Je crois qu'il est malade. — I think he's ill.

An affirmative croire que is an assertion, so the clause stays in the indicative. Only the negative and interrogative forms bring in the subjunctive.

Incorrect: Ils croyent ce qu'on leur dit. — They believe what they're told.

Correct: Ils croient ce qu'on leur dit. — They believe what they're told.

The ils ending -ent is silent, so the y has nothing to stand before and drops out. Croyent would add a syllable that nobody pronounces.

Incorrect: J'ai croit entendre quelque chose. — I thought I heard something.

Correct: J'ai cru entendre quelque chose. — I thought I heard something.

Croit is the third person present. The past participle is cru, in the same family as vu, lu and su.

Croire Conjugated

Two stems, croi- and croy-, plus the participle cru will get you through every form of this verb.

Present, imperfect, future, subjunctive

The present and the future use croi-; the imperfect and the nous/vous subjunctive use croy-. The future stem is croir-, straight from the infinitive.

Pronoun	présent	imparfait	futur	subjonctif
je / j'	crois	croyais	croirai	croie
tu	crois	croyais	croiras	croies
il / elle / on	croit	croyait	croira	croie
nous	croyons	croyions	croirons	croyions
vous	croyez	croyiez	croirez	croyiez
ils / elles	croient	croyaient	croiront	croient

The nous and vous subjunctive forms are identical to the imperfect: que nous croyions, que vous croyiez.

Compound tenses and the conditional

Croire takes avoir, and its participle is cru. The conditional stem is the future stem, croir-.

Pronoun	passé composé	plus-que-parfait	conditionnel
je / j'	ai cru	avais cru	croirais
tu	as cru	avais cru	croirais
il / elle / on	a cru	avait cru	croirait
nous	avons cru	avions cru	croirions
vous	avez cru	aviez cru	croiriez
ils / elles	ont cru	avaient cru	croiraient

Cru has no circumflex. Crû with an accent is the participle of croître, to grow, a completely different verb.

Croire À, Croire En, and the Idioms

The prepositions carry real meaning here, and croire also anchors a set of phrases you'll hear daily.

Choosing between à and en

À introduces something whose existence or effectiveness you accept. En introduces a person, or an ideal you place your trust in.

Les enfants croient au Père Noël.: Children believe in Father Christmas.
Je crois en mes collègues.: I have faith in my colleagues.
Elle ne croit pas aux régimes.: She doesn't believe in diets.
Il faut croire en soi.: You have to believe in yourself.

À + les contracts to aux: croire aux fantômes, croire aux miracles.

The negative and the question

Once the belief is denied or questioned, the following clause moves into the subjunctive. This is one of the most reliable subjunctive triggers in the language.

Je ne crois pas que ce soit vrai.: I don't think that's true.
Croyez-vous qu'il ait compris ?: Do you think he understood?
Je ne crois pas qu'elle puisse venir.: I don't think she can come.
Personne ne croit que ça marche.: Nobody believes it works.

In relaxed speech you will hear je ne crois pas que c'est vrai, but the subjunctive is the standard form.

Everyday expressions

A short list of set phrases built on croire, none of which translate word for word.

Je n'en crois pas mes yeux.: I can't believe my eyes.
Il a voulu me faire croire le contraire.: He tried to make me believe the opposite.
Elle y croit dur comme fer.: She believes it absolutely.
Je crois bien qu'il a oublié.: I do rather think he's forgotten.

Faire croire à quelqu'un que is the standard way to say to make someone believe something.

Croire FAQs

How do you conjugate croire in French?: Present: je crois, tu crois, il croit, nous croyons, vous croyez, ils croient. The imperfect is je croyais, the future je croirai, and the past participle cru, giving j'ai cru.
What's the difference between croire à and croire en?: Croire à accepts that something exists or works: je crois à la chance, elle croit aux fantômes. Croire en places trust in a person or an ideal: je crois en toi, il croit en Dieu. Both come out as believe in in English.
Does croire que take the subjunctive?: Not when it's affirmative: je crois qu'il a raison uses the indicative. Negate or question it and the subjunctive appears: je ne crois pas qu'il ait raison, croyez-vous qu'il ait raison ?
What is the past participle of croire?: Cru, with no accent, used with avoir: j'ai cru, nous avons cru. Don't confuse it with crû, the participle of croître (to grow), which keeps a circumflex precisely to avoid that confusion.
Is croire or penser more natural for 'I think'?: Both are used constantly, and je crois que is if anything commoner in speech and slightly less assertive. Reach for penser when you mean to intend (je pense partir) or to have an opinion about something (que penses-tu de ce film ?).