believed
v.v. to think that something is true or that someone is telling the truth. You use this when you accept an idea as a fact without needing proof.
v. to accept something as true or real; to have confidence in the truth of a statement or the reliability of a person. Often functions as a stative verb in continuous tenses.
I believed his story because he seemed very honest.
The ancient Greeks believed that many different gods controlled the natural world and human fate.
While many scholars believed the manuscript was a modern forgery, recent carbon dating suggests it originated in the fourteenth century, forcing a re-evaluation of the entire collection.
Often followed by a 'that' clause or a direct object. When expressing faith in someone's character or existence, it takes the preposition 'in'.
I am believing youI believe youBelieve is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous (-ing) form to express a current opinion.