The word “believe” mainly states a thought which relies on the truth of any words, matters, incidents etc. Let us check the usage of the word “believe” in various tense forms.
The term “believing” is the present participle form, and the term “believed” can be considered as the past participle form of the word “believe”. The addition of “s” to the third person singular number is a must, while we can use the root form “believe” with all other types of numbers and persons of nouns.
Let us check how we can use the word “believe” in the present , past, and future tense.
“Believe” in present tense –
Trust, rely, and consider are some of the words which best describes the word “believe” in the best manner. Let us check the use of the word “believe” in the present tense.
The word “believe” has four present tense forms. The root form “believe” goes with all types of people and numbers except the third person singular, which requires the form “believes”. “Believing” is the present participle form, and “believed” is in use as both the past form and the past participle form.
When we can use “believe” in the present tense?
Type of Present Tense Form | When to use “believe” in various present tense forms? |
1. Simple Present Tense | The verb form “believe” in the simple present tense mainly refers to trusting or relying on any person, object, or possibility in a general sense. |
2. Present Continuous Tense | The verb form “believing” in the present continuous tense or present progressive tense mainly refers to trusting or relying on any person, object, or possibility that is happening at a specific time in the present period. |
3. Present Perfect Tense | The term “has / have believed” is mainly used to denote trust or rely on any person, object, or possibility that has already been executed in the past, but we can still feel its essence in the present time. |
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense | The verb form ” has/have been believing” in the present perfect continuous tense mainly refers to trust or relies on any person, object, or possibility that has already started to show in the past but is still continuing in the present time. |
Sentence formation in the present tense with “believe”-
Type of Tense | Sentence formation structure with “believe” |
1. Simple Present Tense | Subject + believe(s) + object |
2. Present Continuous Tense / Present Progressive Tense | Subject + am/is/are + believing (in the Present Participle Form) + object |
3. Present Perfect Tense | Subject + have/has + believed ( Past Participle Form ) + object |
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense | Subject + have/has + been + believing ( Present Participle Form ) + object |
Examples of “believe” in the present tense –
Type of Tense | Example with “believe” | Explanation |
1. Simple Present Tense | Robin believes in the free life of all wild animals and birds instead of confining them to pets for their own entertainment. | The suffix “s” has been added to the root form “believe” as the subject is third person singular and the sentence is in simple present tense. |
2. Present Continuous Tense | Believing in the free life of all wild animals and birds instead of confined them for their own entertainment is not everyone’s cup of tea. | The present participle form “believing” is in use to show the present occurrence of the verb “believe” in the freedom of animals. |
3. Present Perfect Tense | Robin has believed in the freedom of all wild animals and birds since he was a child, rather than confining them to pets for their own entertainment. | The past participle form “believed” is in use after “has” because the sentence is in the present perfect tense. |
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense | Mina has been believing in the recovery of her own start-up for the last five years, but no result has been shown since then. | The term “has been” is added in this sentence as the trust started five years ago and is still in active mode. |
“Believe” in past tense –
The term “believed” can be marked as the past form of the word “believe”. Let us check the use of the word “believe” in the past tense.
We must use the past form “believed” while framing simple past sentences, but “believing” must be in use while framing past continuous tense. The addition of “had” is a must while framing a past perfect sentence, while the addition of “had been” is compulsory for a past perfect continuous sentence.
When we can use “believe” in the past tense?
Type of Past Tense Form | When to use “believe” in various past tense forms? |
1.Simple Past Tense | The past form “believed” must be used in a simple past tense to show the reliance or trust of a living being on another living being, object, aim, or achievement which has already been shown in the past. |
2.Past Continuous Tense | The word “believing” in past continuous form along with was or were can be used to refer to the reliance or trust of a living being on another living being, object, aim or achievement that was in progressive mode in the past. |
3.Past Perfect Tense | The past participle form “believed” along with ‘had’ in the past perfect tense must be used to show a sequence of two events and there must be one act of belief in at least one of the respective two events. |
4.Past Perfect Continuous Tense | The present participle form “believing” along with “had been” must be used to show the act of believing which has been continued for a specific time period in the past. |
Sentence formation in the past tense with “believe”-
Type of Tense | Sentence formation structure with “believe” |
1.Simple Past Tense | Subject + Believed + Object |
2.Past Continuous Tense | Subject + was/were + Believing ( Present Participle Form ) + Object |
3.Past Perfect Tense | Subject + Had + Believed ( Past Participle Form ) + Object |
4.Past Perfect Continuous Tense | Subject + Had + Been + Believing ( Present Participle Form ) + Object |
Examples of “believe” in the past tense –
Type of Tense | Example with “arrive” | Explanation |
1.Simple Past Tense | We believed in the honesty of all members of our office, but now I have doubts regarding the same. | The form “believed” is in use to refer to the act of trust which the speaker has shown towards the office members in the past. |
2.Past Continuous Tense | I had been believing in you but you make me deprived. | The ‘ing’ has been added to the word “believe” just after the past form ‘were’ to mark the past continuous form of the tense. |
3.Past Perfect Tense | Sandip had believed in the honesty of all the office members before some of them were blamed for money corruption. | The verb ‘had’ has been placed before the past participle form “believed” to mark the past perfect tense. |
4.Past Perfect Continuous Tense | Sandip had been believing in the honesty of all the office members for the last five years, but the situation has changed now. | The term “had been” is in use before the present participle form “believing” to mark the past perfect continuous form of the tense. |
“Believe” in future tense –
Dismiss, reject, and abandon are some words that describe the exact opposite meaning of the word “believe”. Let us check the use of the word “believe” in the future tense.
The addition of the word “will” or “shall” in front of the word “believe” while using it to frame sentences in the future tense. We must use the forms “to be arriving,” “have arrived,” and “have been arriving.” They can be used in a sentence according to the form of the future tense.
When we can use “believe” in the future tense?
Type of Future Tense Form | When to use “believe” in various future tense forms? |
1.Simple Future Tense | The root verb form “believe” must be used along with “will/shall” to mark a simple trust or rely on any person, object, aim, or achievement that is going to happen in the future. |
2.Future Continuous Tense | The present participle form “believing” must be used in the future continuous tense when trust or reliance of any person on another person, object, aim or achievement is happening in the future. |
3.Future Perfect Tense | We can use the term “shall/will have believed” in the future perfect tense when we need to show that trust or reliance of any person on another person, object, aim or achievement will be executed at some predefined time in the future. |
4.Future Perfect Continuous Tense | The term “shall/will have been believing” can be used in the future perfect continuous tense when we need to show that execution of trust or reliance by any person on another person, object, aim or achievement will happen at some predefined time in the future. |
Sentence formation in the future tense with “believe”-
Type of Tense | Sentence formation structure with “believe” |
1.Simple Future Tense | Subject + shall/will + believe + object |
2.Future Continuous Tense | Subject + will + be + believing ( present participle form) + object |
3.Future Perfect Tense | Subject + will + have + believed ( Past Participle Form ) + object |
4.Future Perfect Continuous Tense | Subject + will + have + been + believing ( Present Participle) + Object |
Examples of “believe” in the future tense –
Type of Tense | Example with “believe” | Explanation |
1.Simple Future Tense | I will believe your words if you are able to prove your point of view. | The root form “believe” is in use to show the probability of an event occurring in the future. |
2.Future Continuous Tense | The baby will be believing in the words of her mother for her whole life. | The term “believing” refers to the future occurrence or occurrence of any trust or reliance of any person on another person, object, aim, or achievement, etc. |
3.Future Perfect Tense | For three years, Mina will have believed in the recovery of her start-up. | We have placed the past participle form “believed” after “will have” to create the occurrence of trust which is going to be executed at a specific time in the future. |
4.Future Perfect Continuous Tense | In December, I will have been believing in the success of my company for ten years. | The present participle form “believing” is in use just after “will have been” to show the execution of the act at a specific time in the future. |
Conclusion
Let us conclude our learning with the noun form of the verb “believe,” and that is “belief.” The noun form “belief” mainly denotes an emotion that conveys whether someone or something is reliable or not. Thus, we can say that the noun “belief” comes under the category of an abstract noun.
Hey! I am Arpita Bose Roy. My qualifications are M.A. in English with B. Ed. in both general education and special education. I have 2 years of experience as a “language analyst” at IIT Kharagpur and 4 years of experience as an “Academic Content Developer” at IIT Kharagpur. Currently, I am working as an academic writer at Lambdageeks.