In English, the phrase I was going for was "I would think". It's correct in English, and means mostly the same thing as "I think", with slightly different connotations. I'm not exactly sure how to verbalise what those connotations are, just that in this case it felt better. I think in this context it made it slightly more comical/sardonic?
Obviously, "je croirais" is the correct literal translation of "I would think". But does it not work to carry a similar connotation in French? And if not, is there some other phrase/conjugation of croire I could use to get across that tone?
Unfortunately my French knowledge is almost entirely academic, so knowing how to use it with more nuance than literal word-for-word changes is a bit beyond me, outside of where that is obviously academically inappropriate.
You would need to add a condition to conjugate it that way so it becomes a conditionnel présent, but coloqually you are still under this belief, so I thought it was best to just assume that the present simple was best for your answer.
However you could say you were going for the futur antérieur, but I would think isint in the future...
Okay this I'm very confident is incorrect. I'm very open to the idea that it might not be correct to use in the way I used it here, but it definitely exists. It's the conditional tense, first person singular conjugation of croire.