• Tetsuo@jlai.lu
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    9 months ago

    IMO “Je croirais” is related to the verb “to believe”.

    “I think” would most likely be translated to “Je pense”.

    A thinker is a “penseur” in French.

    So basically, you could end the sentence (or even better start it) with “Je pense”.

    Here I would say “Je pense que [Insert doubtful info]”.

    • BenVimes@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      When I was learning French I was told penser and croire were interchangeable in this context.

      • Tetsuo@jlai.lu
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        9 months ago

        The issue here is more the fact that “Je croirais” doesn’t exist.

        It’s close to “Je croirai” which is simple futur (Futur simple).

        So what you said is closer to "I will believe ".

        The past tense that would work here would be :

        “Je croyais que” (Imparfait).

        But yeah you could say “Je croyais que” or “Je pensais que” both would be fine.

        • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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          9 months ago

          the fact that “Je croirais” doesn’t exist

          Okay this I’m very confident is incorrect. I’m very open to the idea that it might not be correct to use in the way I used it here, but it definitely exists. It’s the conditional tense, first person singular conjugation of croire.

          • Tetsuo@jlai.lu
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            9 months ago

            Yes, it’s a complete fail on my part.

            I wanted to verify how to conjugate this verb and ended up on a classic website “Le conjugueur”.

            But you can’t use that website anymore without accepting cookies. So I went to the “Le monde” conjugueur but it just didn’t show conditional present.

            That being said I knew and used many times “je croirais” so I don’t know what went through my mind :(

        • Evkob@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          You’re mistaken, “je croirais” exists, it’s the “conditionnel présent” (conditionnal present).

          Example sentence: “Je te croirais si t’avais des preuves.” (Translation: “I would believe you if you had proof”).