be·lieve /bəˈliːv/ ●●● S1 W1 verb 1 BE SURE something IS TRUE[transitiveT]BELIEVE to be sure that something is true or that someone is telling the truth 相信 You shouldn’t believe everything you read. 你不应尽信书上看来的东西。
I believed him, even though his story sounded unlikely. 我相信了他,尽管他的话听上去难以置信。
believe (that) I don’t believe he’s only 25. 我不相信他只有25岁。
I don’t believe a word of it (=I think it is completely untrue). 我一句话也不相信。
2 HAVE AN OPINION[transitiveT]BELIEVE to think that something is true or possible, although you are not completely sure 认为;料想,猜想believe (that) Detectives believe that the victim knew his killer. 侦探认为被害人认识凶手。
it is believed (that) It is believed that the house was built in 1735. 据信这房子建于1735年。
believe so (=think that something is true) 认为是的 ‘Have they arrived yet?’ ‘Yes, I believe so.’ “他们到了吗?”“嗯,我想到了。”
be believed to be something At 115, Mrs Jackson is believed to be the oldest person in the country. 115岁的杰克逊夫人被认为是国内最高寿的人。
The four men are widely believed (=believed by a lot of people) to have been killed by their captors. 人们普遍认为,那四名男子已遭绑架者杀害。
Did you honestly believe that I’d be stupid enough to do that? 你真的认为我会傻到做那样的事情吗?
I firmly believe that the business will be a success. 我坚信公司会成功的。
► see thesaurus at think 3 it’s difficult/hard to believe (that) used when you are surprised that something is true 很难相信〔用于表示惊异〕 Sometimes, it’s hard to believe we’ve been married for 50 years. 有时候,很难相信我们已经结婚50年了。
it’s difficult/hard to believe (that)• It's hard to believe another child could do such a thing.• It's hard to believe, but we're fast approaching the dessert hour.• Female speaker It's hard to believe it's happened.• It's hard to believe just how dire it is.• It's hard to believe Marie's got a husband.• It's hard to believe now but I actually made do with hooks for a while!• It's hard to believe that he started painting in World War Two and is still painting today.• The ideological points are still there but it's hard to believe that totalitarian regimentation could be so tight. 4 can’t/don’t believe something SURPRISEDused when you are very surprised or shocked by something 不能/不敢相信某事〔用于表示惊异或震惊〕 I can’t believe he’s expecting us to work on Sunday! 我真不敢相信,他竟然要我们星期天上班!
I couldn’t believe it when he told me what had happened. 当他告诉我发生的这一切时,我简直没法相信。
can hardly/scarcely believe something I could scarcely believe my luck. 我几乎不敢相信自己的运气。
can’t/don’t believe something• When I saw the video, I was like, I don't believe it!• I can't believe you lied to me! 5 believe it or not BELIEVEused when you are saying something that is true but surprising 信不信由你 He enjoys school, believe it or not. 信不信由你,他喜欢上学。
believe it or not• Lives in the next village, believe it or not.• Name's Virginia, believe it or not.• She put on her pale-blue linen Jaeger dress and, believe it or not, a little hat.• Now this happened to me again, believe it or not, a year or two later.• This week, believe it or not, another, almost identical saga began.• And so, believe it or not, he puts on the magic shoes and limps off to the funeral.• But, believe it or not, neither are the networks.• Well, believe it or not, we're getting married.• The eventual headliners, believe it or not, were Mud. 6 would you believe it! (also I don’t believe it!)SURPRISED used when you are surprised or angry about something 你会相信吗? 我不能相信!〔表示惊讶或生气〕 And then he just walked out. Would you believe it! 然后他就走出去了。 你能相信吗!
7 believe (you) me TRUEused to emphasize that something is definitely true 相信我〔用于强调某事绝对是真的〕 There’ll be trouble when they find out about this, believe you me! 相信我,这件事如果给他们发现了会很麻烦的!
believe (you) me• No, it's too far to walk, believe me.• But I could see from the look in his eyes that he did not believe me.• Oh, please, you must believe me.• You think they gon na believe me?• There is nothing to do now but wait, and believe me, midnight seems like a week away.• And believe me, my wife does not enjoy reminding me twice.• Conrad and Philippa don't believe me, not really.• Those who did believe me offered no solace; only sympathy and empty platitudes.• No, no, believe me, the less she knows of my activities, the better. 8. you’d better believe it! used to emphasize that something is true 你最好相信!〔用于强调某事是真的〕you’d better believe it!• "Do they make money on them?" "You'd better believe it!" 9. don’t you believe it! used to emphasize that something is definitely not true 千万不要相信!〔用于强调某事绝对不是真的〕 10. can’t believe your eyes/ears SURPRISEDused to say that someone is very surprised by something they see or hear 不敢相信自己的眼睛/耳朵 11. if you believe that, you’ll believe anythingyou’ll believe anything if you believe that BELIEVEused to say that something is definitely not true, and that anyone who believes it must be stupid 你要是连这都相信,还有什么不信的;谁相信谁就是傻瓜 12. seeing is believing (also I’ll believe it when I see it)BELIEVE used to say that you will only believe that something happens or exists when you actually see it 眼见为实 13 RELIGION[intransitiveI]RRRELIGION to have a religious faith 有宗教信仰,信教 She says those who believe will go to heaven. 她说信教的人可以进天堂。
14 believe in somebody/something phrasal verbphr v a) BELIEVEto be sure that someone or something exists 相信…存在 Do you believe in God? 你相信有上帝吗?
b) APPROVEto think that something is effective or right 相信…有用;相信…正确 I don’t believe in these diets. 我不相信这些节食方法。
believe in doing something The school believes in letting children learn at their own pace. 这所学校认为要让孩子按着自己的进度学习。
c) BELIEVEto trust someone and be confident that they will be successful 信任,信赖,相信〔某人会成功〕 The people want a president they can believe in. 老百姓想要一个可以信赖的总统。
Believe in yourself, or you’ll never succeed. 相信自己,否则你永远不会成功。
believe in doing something• They believe in maintaining small class sizes.• A: Just believe in yourself.• Al-Farabi did not believe in the immortality of the soul.• But Franca believed in none of these things.• Citizens perceive their relationship to one another and they believe in their capacity to act.• Even the state believes in it, quite apart from the academics themselves.• I'd believed in that too much.• I believe in the information age and the global economy.• They're proving they exist, punishing us for not believing in them, like gods. → make believe at make1(19)n GrammarPatterns with believe
You
believe that something is true:
We believe that all men are equal.
You
believe that something
should happen:
We believe all men should be treated equally.
You
believe that someone
can do something:
I still believe that we can win.
You
believe that something
might or
could happen:
Do you believe that things might change?
In more formal English, you can say
it is believed that:
It was believed that the King’s touch could cure diseases.
In all the above patterns with
that, ‘that’ can be omitted:
We believe all men are equal.
You can use the phrases I believe so or I don’t believe so, usually to give a short answer: ‘Are they married?’ ‘I believe so.’
‘Were there any problems?’ ‘I don’t believe so.’
✗Don’t say: I believe it. Using the progressive
Believe is not used in the progressive. You say: I believe you.
✗Don’t say: I am believing you. THESAURUSto believe something 相信某事物believe to be sure that something is true or that someone is telling the truth 相信I believed her when she said that she loved me. 她说她爱我,我相信了。
Don’t believe anything he tells you. 他告诉你的任何话都别信。
accept to believe that something is true, especially because someone has persuaded you to believe it 〔尤指经说服而〕接受,相信His wife accepted his explanation for why he was late. 他妻子接受了他对于迟到的解释。
nLeah had slowly come to accept her brother’s version of events.
take somebody’s word for it especially spoken to believe what someone says is true, even though you have no proof or experience of it 〔在没有证据或经验的情况下〕相信某人的话I don’t know anything about him, so I’ll just have to take your word for it. 我对他一点也不了解,所以只能相信你的话。
nYou don’t have to take my word for it – go and see for yourself.
n‘Cakes are very easy to make.’ ‘I’ll take your word for it.’
give somebody the benefit of the doubt to believe what someone says, even though you think it might not be true 姑且先相信某人Unless you have proof, you should give him the benefit of the doubt. 除非你有真凭实据,否则只能姑且相信他的话。
to believe something that is untrue 相信不真实的事情be taken in (also fall for something informal) to be tricked into believing something that is not true 受骗,上当A lot of people were taken in by these claims. 许多人都给这些说法蒙骗了。
I can’t believe she fell for that old excuse! 我简直不敢相信她竟会听信那种惯用的借口。
swallow informal to believe a story or explanation that is not true, especially when this makes you seem silly (尤指愚蠢的)轻信,误信His aunt had swallowed his story unquestioningly. 他姑妈毫无疑心地相信了他的说法。
nPolice refused to swallow his story, and put him in a cell.
believe (that)• We believe a much better understanding of the environmental implications of using secondary aggregates is urgently required.• And as in folk medicine generally, if you believe it will help, it probably will.• Harald died three months later, I believe of a broken heart.• A: I do believe that.• But one look at the line and it is obvious that few actually believe the ascent could be that hard.• The Department of Transport believes the warm weather encourages more drink-driving ... with horrifying results.• But adults say they believe there are tastier burgers elsewhere, a disturbing fact when Census Bureau trends show an aging population.• Yet he avoids shows of emotion and personal feeling because he believes they are destructive.