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How to conjugate Creer in Spanish

creer to believe, to think Irregular Verb Top 100

At a glance: Creer (to believe, to think) is one of the most common irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: creo, crees, cree, creemos, creéis, creen. The present tense is regular. In the preterite: tú, nosotros and vosotros change i to í (creíste, creímos, creísteis); ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to y (creyó, creyeron); yo is regular. It is also irregular in the imperfect subjunctive (creyera), gerund (creyendo) and past participle (creído).

Past participle
creído believed
Gerund
creyendo believing
Similar
juzgar (to consider), tener fe (to have faith), opinar (to believe), suponer (to suppose)

Introduction

Creer is the Spanish verb meaning "to believe". On it's own, it refers to having faith, or believing in something. For example: Creo en Dios. (I believe in God). When you use "que" after the verb creer, the meaning changes to form an opinion about something. For example: Creo que podría estar enferma (I think she might be sick).

Creer conjugation tables as a PDF

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Indicative tenses of Creer

Creer in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of creer is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, “creo en milagros”, meaning “I believe in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreoI believe
Túcreesyou believe
Ella / Él / Ustedcrees/he believes
Nosotras / Nosotroscreemoswe believe
Vosotras / Vosotroscreéisyou (plural) believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreenthey believe

How it’s built: Regular: stem cre- plus the -er endings.

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Creer in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of creer is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “creí en milagros”, meaning “I believed in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreíI believed
Túcreísteyou believed
Ella / Él / Ustedcreyós/he believed
Nosotras / Nosotroscreímoswe believed
Vosotras / Vosotroscreísteisyou (plural) believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreyeronthey believed

How it’s built: Tú, nosotros and vosotros change i to í (creíste, creímos, creísteis); ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to y (creyó, creyeron); yo is regular.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Creer in the Indicative Imperfect

The Indicative Imperfect of creer is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “creía en milagros”, meaning “I used to believe in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreíaI used to believe
Túcreíasyou used to believe
Ella / Él / Ustedcreías/he used to believe
Nosotras / Nosotroscreíamoswe used to believe
Vosotras / Vosotroscreíaisyou (plural) used to believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreíanthey used to believe

How it’s built: Regular: stem cre- plus the -er endings.

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Creer in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of creer is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy creyendo en milagros”, meaning “I am believing in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy creyendoI am believing
Túestás creyendoyou are believing
Ella / Él / Ustedestá creyendos/he is believing
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos creyendowe are believing
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis creyendoyou (plural) are believing
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán creyendothey are believing

How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the irregular gerund creyendo.

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Creer in the Indicative Informal Future

The Indicative Informal Future of creer is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a creer en milagros”, meaning “I am going to believe in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a creerI am going to believe
Túvas a creeryou are going to believe
Ella / Él / Ustedva a creers/he is going to believe
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a creerwe are going to believe
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a creeryou (plural) are going to believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a creerthey are going to believe

How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive creer.

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Creer in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of creer is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “creeré en milagros”, meaning “I will believe in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreeréI will believe
Túcreerásyou will believe
Ella / Él / Ustedcreerás/he will believe
Nosotras / Nosotroscreeremoswe will believe
Vosotras / Vosotroscreeréisyou (plural) will believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreeránthey will believe

How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive creer plus the future endings.

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Creer in the Indicative Conditional

The Indicative Conditional of creer is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “creería en milagros”, meaning “I would believe in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreeríaI would believe
Túcreeríasyou would believe
Ella / Él / Ustedcreerías/he would believe
Nosotras / Nosotroscreeríamoswe would believe
Vosotras / Vosotroscreeríaisyou (plural) would believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreeríanthey would believe

How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive creer plus the conditional endings.

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Creer in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of creer is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, “he creído en milagros”, meaning “I have believed in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe creídoI have believed
Túhas creídoyou have believed
Ella / Él / Ustedha creídos/he has believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos creídowe have believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis creídoyou (plural) have believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan creídothey have believed

How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the irregular past participle creído.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Creer in the Indicative Past Perfect

The Indicative Past Perfect of creer is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había creído en milagros”, meaning “I had believed in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía creídoI had believed
Túhabías creídoyou had believed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía creídos/he had believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos creídowe had believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais creídoyou (plural) had believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían creídothey had believed

How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the irregular past participle creído.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Creer in the Indicative Future Perfect

The Indicative Future Perfect of creer is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré creído en milagros”, meaning “I will have believed in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré creídoI will have believed
Túhabrás creídoyou will have believed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá creídos/he will have believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos creídowe will have believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis creídoyou (plural) will have believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán creídothey will have believed

How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the irregular past participle creído.

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Creer in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

The Indicative Conditional Perfect of creer is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría creído en milagros”, meaning “I would have believed in miracles”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría creídoI would have believed
Túhabrías creídoyou would have believed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría creídos/he would have believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos creídowe would have believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais creídoyou (plural) would have believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían creídothey would have believed

How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the irregular past participle creído.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Subjunctive tenses of Creer

Creer in the Subjunctive Present

The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, “crea”, meaning “I believe”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreaI believe
Túcreasyou believe
Ella / Él / Ustedcreas/he believes
Nosotras / Nosotroscreamoswe believe
Vosotras / Vosotroscreáisyou (plural) believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreanthey believe

How it’s built: Regular: stem cre- plus the -er subjunctive endings.

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Creer in the Subjunctive Imperfect

The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, “creyera”, meaning “I believed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreyeraI believed
Túcreyerasyou believed
Ella / Él / Ustedcreyeras/he believed
Nosotras / Nosotroscreyéramoswe believed
Vosotras / Vosotroscreyeraisyou (plural) believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreyeranthey believed

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, creyeron: drop -ron and add the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (creyéramos).

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Creer in the Subjunctive Future

The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “creyere”, meaning “I will believe”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocreyereI will believe
Túcreyeresyou will believe
Ella / Él / Ustedcreyeres/he will believe
Nosotras / Nosotroscreyéremoswe will believe
Vosotras / Vosotroscreyereisyou (plural) will believe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescreyerenthey will believe

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, creyeron: drop -ron and add the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (creyéremos).

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Creer in the Subjunctive Present Perfect

The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, “haya creído”, meaning “I have believed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya creídoI have believed
Túhayas creídoyou have believed
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya creídos/he has believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos creídowe have believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis creídoyou (plural) have believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan creídothey have believed

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the irregular past participle creído.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Creer in the Subjunctive Past Perfect

The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, “hubiera creído”, meaning “I had believed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera creídoI had believed
Túhubieras creídoyou had believed
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera creídos/he had believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos creídowe had believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais creídoyou (plural) had believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran creídothey had believed

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the irregular past participle creído.

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Creer in the Subjunctive Future Perfect

The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, “hubiere creído”, meaning “I will have believed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere creídoI will have believed
Túhubieres creídoyou will have believed
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere creídos/he will have believed
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos creídowe will have believed
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis creídoyou (plural) will have believed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren creídothey will have believed

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the irregular past participle creído.

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Imperative tenses of Creer

Creer in the Imperative Affirmative

The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “crea”, meaning “(to you formal) believe!”.

In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túcree(to you) believe!
Ella / Él / Ustedcrea(to you formal) believe!
Nosotras / Nosotroscreamoslet's believe!
Vosotras / Vosotroscreed(to you plural) believe!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescrean(to you plural formal) believe!

How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (cree); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (crea, creamos, crean); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (creed).

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Creer in the Imperative Negative

The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no crea”, meaning “(to you formal) don't believe!”.

In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno creas(to you) don't believe!
Ella / Él / Ustedno crea(to you formal) don't believe!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno creamoslet's not believe!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno creáis(to you plural) don't believe!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno crean(to you plural formal) don't believe!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no creas, no crea, no creamos, no creáis, no crean.

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Example sentences and usage

  • La mayoría de la gente cree que estoy loco. Most people think I'm crazy.
  • Creo que lo mejor es no ser maleducado. I think it is best not to be impolite.
  • Viendo que no estás sorprendido, creo que debes estar al corriente. Seeing that you're not surprised, I think you must have known.
  • Creo que los exámenes están arruinando la educación. I think exams are ruining education.
  • Es bueno tener ideales...¿No crees? It is good to have goals... don't you think?
  • Su historia era demasiado tonta para que alguien la creyera. His story was too ridiculous for anyone to believe.
  • La situación es peor de lo que creíamos. The situation is worse than we believed.
  • ¿Crees que comenzará la guerra? Do you believe war will start?

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Frequently asked questions about Creer

Is creer a regular or irregular verb?

Creer is an irregular Spanish verb. The present tense is regular. In the preterite: tú, nosotros and vosotros change i to í (creíste, creímos, creísteis); ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to y (creyó, creyeron); yo is regular. It is also irregular in the imperfect subjunctive (creyera), gerund (creyendo) and past participle (creído).

How do you conjugate creer in the present tense (presente)?

In the present tense (presente), creer is conjugated as: yo creo, tú crees, él/ella/usted cree, nosotros creemos, vosotros creéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes creen. The present tense is used To talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths.

How do you conjugate creer in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), creer is conjugated as: yo creí, tú creíste, él/ella/usted creyó, nosotros creímos, vosotros creísteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes creyeron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

How do you conjugate creer in the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto)?

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), creer is conjugated as: yo creía, tú creías, él/ella/usted creía, nosotros creíamos, vosotros creíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes creían. The imperfect is used To describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do.

How do you conjugate creer in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), creer is conjugated as: yo creeré, tú creerás, él/ella/usted creerá, nosotros creeremos, vosotros creeréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes creerán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

How do you conjugate creer in the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente)?

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), creer is conjugated as: yo crea, tú creas, él/ella/usted crea, nosotros creamos, vosotros creáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes crean. The present subjunctive is used To talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about.

What’s the difference between creer and creerse?

Creer means ‘to believe, to think’ and creerse means ‘to consider oneself (e.g. clever), to believe (a story)’. Creerse is the reflexive form of creer, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun – me, te, se, nos, os or se – that matches the subject. The verb itself is conjugated the same way: in the present tense, yo creo becomes me creo. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so cree becomes créete.

What are some common example sentences using creer?

Here are everyday sentences using creer: La mayoría de la gente cree que estoy loco. (Most people think I'm crazy.) Creo que lo mejor es no ser maleducado. (I think it is best not to be impolite.) Viendo que no estás sorprendido, creo que debes estar al corriente. (Seeing that you're not surprised, I think you must have known.) Creo que los exámenes están arruinando la educación. (I think exams are ruining education.) Es bueno tener ideales...¿No crees? (It is good to have goals... don't you think?)


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Downloadable cheat sheets

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Want to explore other verb conjugations?

Why not check out Creerse – to consider oneself (e.g. clever), to believe (a story) or see the complete list of verbs here.


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