Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell believe

hear itbe·lieve/bɪ'liv/verbSilent and tricky

What it means: To accept something as true or real.

In a sentence: I believe in unicorns and fairies.

The part people get wrong

Watch for the order of ie. Often misspelled as beleive or belive.

Same family: belief, believer, unbelievable, believing, disbelief. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Believe comes from Old English “belýfan” or “gelýfan,” meaning to trust or have faith. It is related to the word “lief,” an old word meaning ‘dear’ or ‘beloved,’ so its roots are connected to the idea of holding something dear or trusting it.

Patterns it uses: i before e?

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

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