20 Expressions with “Believe”

20 Expressions with BELIEVE (Meanings & Examples) | B2–C1 English

Hello English learners 👋 Welcome to a new lesson.

The verb believe is used to talk about opinions, trust, faith, surprise, and disbelief. English has many fixed expressions with believe, and they are extremely common in spoken English, writing, and Cambridge exams (B2–C1).

In this lesson, you’ll learn 20 natural expressions with believe, with clear meanings and example sentences to help you use them confidently and naturally.

Expressions with Believe

1️⃣ Believe in

Meaning: to have faith or confidence in someone or something.

• The coach encouraged the team to believe in themselves.
• You need to believe in your decision.

2️⃣ Believe in fate / faith

Meaning: to trust that events happen for a reason.

• Even in difficult times, she chose to believe in fate.
• He believes in faith and trusts that things will work out.

3️⃣ Believe in ghosts

Meaning: to believe that spirits exist.

• Many people still believe in ghosts.
• After that experience, he started to believe in ghosts.

4️⃣ Believe in love

Meaning: to trust in the power of love.

• Despite everything, she still believes in love.
• He refuses to give up and continues to believe in love.

5️⃣ Believe in luck

Meaning: to think chance influences outcomes.

• Some people strongly believe in luck.
• She believes in luck and always carries a charm.

6️⃣ Believe in miracles

Meaning: to believe extraordinary things can happen.

• His recovery made everyone believe in miracles.
• She never stopped believing in miracles.

7️⃣ Believe in second chances

Meaning: to think people deserve another opportunity.

• I believe in second chances.
• She learned to believe in second chances after her mistake.

8️⃣ Believe in yourself

Meaning: to trust your own abilities.

• Always believe in yourself, especially during exams.
• He succeeded because he believed in himself.

9️⃣ Believe it or not

Meaning: used before something surprising.

• Believe it or not, Antarctica is a desert.
• Believe it or not, he passed without studying.

🔟 Believe me

Meaning: used to emphasise truth or sincerity.

• Believe me, this method really works.
• Believe me, you’ll feel better tomorrow.

1️⃣1️⃣ Believe the best

Meaning: to expect a positive outcome.

• Try to believe the best about people.
• She chose to believe the best instead of worrying.

1️⃣2️⃣ Believe the hype

Meaning: to accept popular praise or excitement.

• The film was amazing — believe the hype.
• After trying it, I can say the hype is real.

1️⃣3️⃣ Believe the worst

Meaning: to assume the worst outcome.

• Don’t believe the worst without evidence.
• She immediately believed the worst.

1️⃣4️⃣ Believe your ears

Meaning: to trust what you hear (often with surprise).

• I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the news.
• He asked me to repeat it — he didn’t believe his ears.

1️⃣5️⃣ Believe your eyes

Meaning: to trust what you see.

• You won’t believe your eyes when you see it.
• I had to believe my eyes — it was incredible.

1️⃣6️⃣ Can’t believe

Meaning: to express surprise or shock.

• I can’t believe how fast time flies.
• We can’t believe how good the food is.

1️⃣7️⃣ Hard to believe

Meaning: difficult to accept as true.

• It’s hard to believe we finished already.
• It’s hard to believe how much things have changed.

1️⃣8️⃣ Make-believe

Meaning: imaginary or pretending.

• Children love make-believe games.
• It was a world of make-believe and fantasy.

1️⃣9️⃣ Make someone believe

Meaning: to convince someone.

• He told the story well enough to make us believe him.
• The advert tries to make people believe they need it.

2️⃣0️⃣ Seeing is believing

Meaning: you only accept something once you see it.

• I didn’t believe it at first — but seeing is believing.
• Once I visited, I understood: seeing is believing.

Final thought

Expressions with believe are powerful because they allow you to talk about opinions, trust, doubt, and surprise — all essential for B2 and C1 speaking and writing tasks.

Practise using them in short stories, opinion paragraphs, and exam answers. The more naturally you use them, the more confident, fluent, and natural your English will sound.

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