What's the difference between believe and think?

Believe


Definition:

  • (n.) To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine.
  • (v. i.) To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith.
  • (v. i.) To think; to suppose.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses that have been imposed on us by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, we are unable to provide our full names and … titles … However, we believe the evidence that will be submitted will validate the statements that we are making in this submission.” The submission detailed specific allegations – including names and dates – of sexual abuse of child detainees, violence and bullying of children, suicide attempts by children and medical neglect.
  • (2) It has been generally believed that the ligand-binding of steroid hormone receptors triggers an allosteric change in receptor structure, manifested by an increased affinity of the receptor for DNA in vitro and nuclear target elements in vivo, as monitored by nuclear translocation.
  • (3) The sound of the ambulance frightened us, especially us children, and panic gripped the entire community: people believe that whoever is taken into the ambulance to the hospital will die – you so often don’t see them again.
  • (4) 8.47pm: Cameron says he believes Britain's best days lie ahead and that he believes in public service.
  • (5) Ryzhkov added: "I believe they want to keep him in prison for another three or four years at least, so he is not released until well after the next presidential elections in 2012."
  • (6) Of the 622 people interviewed, a large proportion (30.5%) believed that the first deciduous tooth should erupt between the age of 5-7 months; the next commonly mentioned time of tooth eruption was 7-9 months of age; and 50.3% of the respondents claimed to have seen a case of prematurely erupted primary teeth.
  • (7) Parents believed they should try to normalize their child's experiences, that interactions with health care professionals required negotiation and assertiveness, and that they needed some support person(s) outside of the family.
  • (8) The so-called literati aren't insular – this from a woman who ran the security service – but we aren't going to apologise for what we believe in either.
  • (9) They were protecting the sit-in because they believed that, if they left, the police would follow them."
  • (10) Batson believes there is a “mood” that needs to be seized upon.
  • (11) There are widespread examples across the US of the police routinely neglecting crimes of sexual violence and refusing to believe victims.
  • (12) United believe it is more likely the right-back can be bought in the summer but are exploring what would represent the considerable coup of acquiring the 26-year-old immediately.
  • (13) Does anybody honestly believe the vast majority of migrants don’t want that too?
  • (14) Although, it did give me the confidence to believe that my voice was valid and important.
  • (15) That is, he believes, to look at massively difficult, interlocking problems through too narrow a lens.
  • (16) However the imagery is more complex, because scholars believe it also relates to another cherished pre-Raphaelite Arthurian legend, Sir Degrevaunt who married his mortal enemy's daughter.
  • (17) After examining the cases reported in literature (Sacks, Barabas, Beighton Sykes), they point out that, contrary to what is generally believed, the syndrome is not rare and cases, sporadic or familial, of recurrent episodes of spontaneous rupture of the intestine and large vessels or peripheral arteries are frequent.
  • (18) Gordon Brown believes that the fact of the G20 summit has persuaded many tax havens, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to indicate that they will adopt a more open approach.
  • (19) I believe that truth sets man free.” It was a curious stance for someone who spent many years undercover as a counter-espionage informant, a government propagandist, and unofficial asset of the Central Intelligence Agency.
  • (20) Whenever you are ill and a medicine is prescribed for you and you take the medicine until balance is achieved in you and then you put that medicine down.” Farrakhan does not dismiss the doctrine of the past, but believes it is no longer appropriate for the present.

Think


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To seem or appear; -- used chiefly in the expressions methinketh or methinks, and methought.
  • (v. t.) To employ any of the intellectual powers except that of simple perception through the senses; to exercise the higher intellectual faculties.
  • (v. t.) To call anything to mind; to remember; as, I would have sent the books, but I did not think of it.
  • (v. t.) To reflect upon any subject; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to consider; to deliberate.
  • (v. t.) To form an opinion by reasoning; to judge; to conclude; to believe; as, I think it will rain to-morrow.
  • (v. t.) To purpose; to intend; to design; to mean.
  • (v. t.) To presume; to venture.
  • (v. t.) To conceive; to imagine.
  • (v. t.) To plan or design; to plot; to compass.
  • (v. t.) To believe; to consider; to esteem.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It involves creativity, understanding of art form and the ability to improvise in the highly complex environment of a care setting.” David Cameron has boosted dementia awareness but more needs to be done Read more She warns: “To effect a cultural change in dementia care requires a change of thinking … this approach is complex and intricate, and can change cultural attitudes by regarding the arts as central to everyday life of the care home.” Another participant, Mary*, a former teacher who had been bedridden for a year, read plays with the reminiscence arts practitioner.
  • (2) Hoursoglou thinks a shortage of skilled people with a good grounding in core subjects such as maths and science is a potential problem for all manufacturers.
  • (3) Mike Ashley told Lee Charnley that maybe he could talk with me last week but I said: ‘Listen, we cannot say too much so I think it’s better if we wait.’ The message Mike Ashley is sending is quite positive, but it was better to talk after we play Tottenham.” Benítez will ask Ashley for written assurances over his transfer budget, control of transfers and other spheres of club autonomy, but can also reassure the owner that the prospect of managing in the second tier holds few fears for him.
  • (4) I think part of it is you can either go places where that's bound to happen.
  • (5) I think he had been saying all season that with three or four games to go he will tell us where we are.
  • (6) Well I think [that’s] because we’ve made changes in the game,” said Goodell.
  • (7) "We do not think the Astra management have done a good job on behalf of shareholders.
  • (8) BT Sport's marketing manager, Alfredo Garicoche, is more effusive still: "We're not thinking for the next two or three years, we're thinking for the next 20 or 30 years and even longer.
  • (9) Think of Nelson Mandela – there is a determination, an unwillingness to bend in the face of challenges, that earns you respect and makes people look to you for guidance.
  • (10) That's, in fact, just what Reed Brody was thinking.
  • (11) "In my era, we'd get a phone call from John [Galliano] before the show: this is what the show's about, what do you think?
  • (12) "It seems that this is just a few experts who are pushing it through parliament … without anyone thinking through the likely consequences for our country," said Duke Tagoe of the Food Sovereignty campaign group.
  • (13) This new way of thinking is reflected in the 1992 AAMR definition of what mental retardation is (Luckasson et al., 1992).
  • (14) Thinking I had the dreaded Norovirus, I rushed home.
  • (15) The talent base in the UK – not just producers and actors but camera and sound – is unparalleled, so I think creativity will continue unabated.” Lee does recognise “massive” cultural differences between the US and UK.
  • (16) Despite Facebook's size and reach, and its much-vaunted role in the short-lived Arab spring , there are reasons for thinking that Twitter may be the more important service for the future of the public sphere – that is, the space in which democracies conduct public discussion.
  • (17) Nick Robins, head of the Climate Change Centre at HSBC, said: "If you think about low-carbon energy only in terms of carbon, then things look tough [in terms of not using coal].
  • (18) The prime minister’s spokeswoman said: “We think this can be done in line with EU and international law and it is important it is introduced and set up in the right way.
  • (19) James Cameron, vice-chairman of Climate Change Capital , an environmental investment group, and a member of the prime minister's Business Advisory Group , says: "I think the UK has, in essence, become a better place for green investors.
  • (20) A lower than normal percentage of REM sleep in these patients was consistent with their retarded intellectual development, which supports current thinking that REM sleep may be a sensitive index of brain function integrity.