A few days ago
blahblah

spelling question?

OK… so the plural for “belief” is “beliefs”. If you believe in several things, then you hold several beliefs. The plural is not “believes”. This is the third person verb form as in “She believes in different beliefs”.

My question is… This is a common error. Once or twice when I was in college, people corrected my spelling of the word “beliefs” even though it was correct. So now I am using the word in a cover letter. I want to spell it correctly, as “beliefs”, but I don’t want the potential employer to incorrectly think I am mis-spelling the word. So is “believes” also acceptable? What should I do? Should I just avoid the plural form and use other words (convinctions, philosophies, etc)?

Top 10 Answers
A few days ago
Anonymous

Favorite Answer

Do not spell things incorrectly because you believe your potential employer may have a misconception about the way a word is spelled. Ever. The only reason you should use “believes’ is if you are using it as a verb.
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A few days ago
Pagan Dan
No. “beliefs” is the plural noun. “believes” is the conjugation of the present tense verb in the third person.

Whoever corrected you is wrong.

So many people are making the same consistent errors that the error is becoming acceptable.

People get phrasal verbs and nouns wrong all the time. You pick up a pickup.

Everyone and everybody are singlular, so you cannot say “Does everyone have their book?”

“A lot” is two words. You have to say a lot of people make that mistake, not alot of people…

Assure, ensure, insure, mean three distinct things.

It’s all good. I’m an English teacher, and I look upon the detioration of our beautiful language as job security.

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A few days ago
MJ3000
Use either the correct spelling, beliefs, or a different word. Do not misspell a word just because other people are idiots.

Good luck with the job.

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A few days ago
Anonymous
When in doubt…don’t spell either. You don’t want to run the risk if your trying to apply for a new job. Use another word that symbolizes the same thing as beliefs or believes. By the way…beliefs is correct.
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A few days ago
♂ ♫ Timberwolf
Beliefs is a plural noun.

Believes is a verb.

So in your instance, you are writing it correctly and anyone who is trying to tell you it is wrong, is wrong. I would take it for granted that the person that will read your letter knows correct grammar.

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A few days ago
Bob Lahblah
No, No. Go with beliefs. The people who mis-corrected your papers probably weren’t intelligent enough to become an employer of a good company anyway.
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A few days ago
Anonymous
I would spell it correctly, if the person is intelligent, they will see it for what it is…… maybe even enough to question themselves. Don’t deliberately mis-spell or mis-use a word….. with my luck, I’d get the one employer who knew right off that it was beliefs not believes… lol

Good Luck!

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A few days ago
naughty_btrfly
I suggest staying away from anything that can be argued and state whatever you are planning to say as merely the truth. However, if you feel you MUST use something to qualify what you have written, I would steer away from anything that could be considered incorrect, such as the plural of belief.
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A few days ago
suspendedagain300
Beliefs is correct, don’t put down the spelling you know is wrong just because the reader might be an idiot.
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A few days ago
lissetterodriguez1104
Believes-To accept as true or real: example-Do you believe the news stories?

Beliefs-The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: example-My belief in you is as strong as ever.

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