Difference between believe and discover

[Lora]

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #12 "We went on holiday", question 2

Does anyone honestly ......... what a politician says nowadays?

(a) discover
(b) think
(c) believe
(d) credit

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #12 "We went on holiday", answer 2

Does anyone honestly believe what a politician says nowadays?

Correct answer: (c) believe

Your answer was: incorrect
Does anyone honestly discover what a politician says nowadays?
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what is the difference between believe and discover

Lora

[Alan]

Hi Lora,

Believe means trust and accept as the truth. Discover someone means find.

Look at these:

She accepted every single thing he said without any doubt and believed him when he said he was telling the truth,

She changed her mind however when she discovered a letter he'd written that said the exact opposite.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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[Moni]

What's the difference between 'credit' and 'believe', please?

[Lucien_Librarian]

Hi Moni

To give someone credit for something means to acknowledge his or her accomplishments/contributions to a certain task or work. Like the credits rolling over the screen at the end of a movie, naming everyone who contributed to its making.

Related with the concept of belief is the word "credible", which means that if you consider someone to be very credible -or put differently, to have a high level of credibility- you are willing to believe him.

[Conchita]

Adding to what our new friend has said (by the way, welcome Ralf!), 'credit' and 'believe' can also be synonymous:

I don't credit his story.

[Lucien_Librarian]

Hi Conchita and thanks for welcoming me.

Credit has really a lot of meanings depending on context. I found this list quite comprehensive:

http://www.bartleby.com/61/56/C0735600.html

Cheers
L.L.

[Alan]

Hi,

The ideas behind 'credit and 'believe' vary slightly in their implication. We can say: I wouldn't credit it or I wouldn't believe it.They both suggest that you find 'it' difficult to accept. 'Not believe it' suggests you think 'it' false or incorrect , 'not credit it' not only do you not accept ' it' but also you don't think it is possible.

A
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English as a Foreign Language
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