Regarding the following verbs/phrases, which ones mean "this is my strong believe" and which ones mean "this is my understanding of the situations"?
- I feel
- I can see
- I am convinced
asked Jul 13, 2015 at 21:40
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1Could you clarify a little bit, please?– Blubberguy22Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 21:40
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Some examples of more direct phrasing for your descriptions would be I firmly/strongly believe (that) ..., and I understand (that) ...– Damkerng T.Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 22:16
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3 Answers
Generally speaking, "I feel and "I can see" are roughly equivalent to "this is my understanding of the situation", whereas "I am convinced" is equivalent to "this is my strong belief".
This is because "I feel", "I can see", and "this is my understanding of the situation" express less force and certainty than "I am convinced" or "this is my strong belief".
There are many ways in English to express shades of certainty.
Phrases that indicate a low level of certainty include "I feel", "I think", "I assume", and "I suppose".
Phrases that indicate a high level of certainty include "I know", "I am certain that", and "I am convinced that".
All of these have fuzzy boundaries so you can't necessarily arrange them in strict order. Like you can't say that "I feel" indicates, say, 20% certainty while I think is 25% or any such.
"I can see" would, I think, be somewhere in the middle.
The correct phrase is actually This is my belief.
From your examples, the first one would be the best fit because a belief can be considered a feeling.
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Hmm, not necessarily. I think "I believe" depends on context. "Well, I believe I heard someone say that yesterday" is probably a statement with a low level of certainly. But, for example, "Fred said he didn't steal the money and I believe him" is a very strong affirmation. Likewise, creeds, like "I believe in God the Father Almightly ..." are clearly intended to be statements of very high certainty.– JayCommented Jul 14, 2015 at 5:05