croire
to believeIrregularਇਹ ਕਿਰਿਆ ਨਿਯਮ ਨਹੀਂ ਮੰਨਦੀ — ਹਰ ਰੂਪ ਵੱਖਰਾ ਯਾਦ ਕਰਨਾ ਪੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
| Person | Presentnow, habits | Passé composécompleted past | Imparfaitongoing past | Futur procheabout to | Futur simplewill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | croissounds the same as another form in this tense | ai cru | croyaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vais croire | croiraisounds the same as another form in this tense |
| tu | croissounds the same as another form in this tense | as crusounds the same as another form in this tense | croyaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vas croiresounds the same as another form in this tense | croirassounds the same as another form in this tense |
| il/elle | croitsounds the same as another form in this tense | a crusounds the same as another form in this tense | croyaitsounds the same as another form in this tense | va croiresounds the same as another form in this tense | croirasounds the same as another form in this tense |
| nous | croyons | avons cru | croyions | allons croire | croironssounds the same as another form in this tense |
| vous | croyez | avez cru | croyiez | allez croire | croirezsounds the same as another form in this tense |
| ils/elles | croientsounds the same as another form in this tense | ont cru | croyaientsounds the same as another form in this tense | vont croire | croirontsounds the same as another form in this tense |
Now, and habits. crois covers both "I believe" and "I am believeing" — French has no separate continuous form.
A completed past action. avoir conjugates and cru does not — ai cru.
An ongoing or habitual past. Built on the nous-present stem, so croyons gives you croyais.
About to happen. aller conjugates; croire never moves — the easier future to produce under pressure.
Will happen. Built on croir-, which is just the infinitive, so only the endings are new.
Three more forms worth knowing
Not among the five TEF/TCF-scored tenses above, but common past A1–A2.
Passé récentjust happened
| je | viens de croire |
|---|---|
| tu | viens de croire |
| il/elle | vient de croire |
| nous | venons de croire |
| vous | venez de croire |
| ils/elles | viennent de croire |
Impératifcommands — no je/il/ils form
| tu | crois |
|---|---|
| nous | croyons |
| vous | croyez |
Gérondifwhile doing — one invariant form
en croyant
What this table tells you about croire
The past participle is cru, and it takes avoir in the passé composé — so it never changes shape, whoever the subject is. No agreement to remember here.
The futur simple is built on croir-, which is just the infinitive — the endings are the whole story, nothing new to learn for this tense.
In both the present and the imparfait, je, tu, il/elle and ils/elles are one sound: crois, croit, croient — indistinguishable spoken. Only nous and vous carry an audible ending.
The imparfait is built on the nous-present stem, so once you know croyons you already know croyais, croyait and croyaient. Futur proche keeps croire untouched.