In English, the phrase I was going for was "I would think". It's correct in English, and means mostly the same thing as "I think", with slightly different connotations. I'm not exactly sure how to verbalise what those connotations are, just that in this case it felt better. I think in this context it made it slightly more comical/sardonic?

Obviously, "je croirais" is the correct literal translation of "I would think". But does it not work to carry a similar connotation in French? And if not, is there some other phrase/conjugation of croire I could use to get across that tone?

Unfortunately my French knowledge is almost entirely academic, so knowing how to use it with more nuance than literal word-for-word changes is a bit beyond me, outside of where that is obviously academically inappropriate.

[–] Mechaguana@programming.dev 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You would need to add a condition to conjugate it that way so it becomes a conditionnel présent, but coloqually you are still under this belief, so I thought it was best to just assume that the present simple was best for your answer.

However you could say you were going for the futur antérieur, but I would think isint in the future...

[–] Tetsuo@jlai.lu 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] Tetsuo@jlai.lu 1 points 9 months ago (3 children)

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 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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 2 points 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 :(

[–] Mr_Blott@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 2 points 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").

[–] Mr_Blott@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Je croirais would more mean "I would believe" (conditional) as in "I'd believe it if I saw it myself"

In English it's not conditional