Grammar Geek: Should I Use Believe or Belief?

Should I use believe or belief? This question can keep you from writing that last sentence for the day. It can be so irritating when you're tired and almost done with your work, but that one word is making your head spin. From now on, you should never need to wonder whether you should use believe or belief ever again.

To Believe

I believe that at the end of this post, you will have a better understanding of the word believe. Look at the next sentence:

I believe in aliens.

If you believe in something, you are doing an action. When a word takes on the role of describing an action, that word is a verb. This means that believe is a verb. Change believe in in the above sentence to a different verb, such as chase.

I chase aliens.

All you need to do is substitute a verb in a sentence with believe or belief. If the sentence sounds strange to you, you probably used the wrong one. For example:

I belief in aliens.

That hardly makes any sense, right? Just say the sentence out loud with the right pronunciation to hear whether it sounds right or wrong.

It's a Belief

My belief is not in aliens, but in God. Belief, on the other hand, takes the role of a noun. One of the oldest tricks in the book is to see whether you can put an a or the before the word. If you can, it is a noun. If you can't, continue guessing.

The believe. The belief. A believe. A belief. 

Which one sounds right to you? The belief and a belief are correct. With that being said, the question is the following:

So, Should I Use Believe or Belief?

It's my belief that you will choose the right form of the word. You need to figure out whether the word takes on a verb or noun role in your sentence. Once you know which one is correct. You can easy make these plural as well.

Believe takes believes.
Belief takes beliefs.

 They might both show acceptance, but belief goes an extra mile. It can also mean in accepting truth and having confidence and trust in something or someone.

I believe in you.

That is a vote of confidence. It shows that I accept you, whether it is that I accept you exist or that I accept that you can do a certain task.

My belief is placed in you.

Not only does this sentence sound epic, but it is also packed with meaning. Once again this is a vote of confidence in you. Yet, both can be a lie. Whether my belief in aliens are correct, doesn't matter. What matters is what I do believe.

I hope that seeing these two words in action helped you understand how to use them even better. To me it is about what sounds right. Check whether your word is a verb or noun and choose accordingly. You can always ask me if you struggle to decide!

Photo credit to Pixabay.