Ella VerbsHow to conjugate Criar in Spanish
criar to raise, to rear, to bring up Irregular Verb
At a glance: Criar (to raise, to rear, to bring up) is a widely used irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: crío, crías, cría, criamos, criáis, crían. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to í (crío, crías, cría, crían); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (crie) and present subjunctive (críe).
- Past participle
- criado raised
- Gerund
- criando raising
- Similar
- alzar, elevar, enarcar, erguir, izar, levantar
Table of contents
- Indicative tenses of Criar
- Criar in the Indicative Present
- Criar in the Indicative Preterite
- Criar in the Indicative Imperfect
- Criar in the Indicative Present Continuous
- Criar in the Indicative Informal Future
- Criar in the Indicative Future
- Criar in the Indicative Conditional
- Criar in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Criar in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Criar in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Criar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Criar
- Imperative tenses of Criar
- Verbs that follow the same patterns
- Frequently asked questions
- Downloadable cheat sheet (PDF)
- Practise Criar conjugations (free mobile app)
Criar conjugation tables as a PDF
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Indicative tenses of Criar
Criar in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of criar 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, “crío”, meaning “I raise”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | crío | I raise |
| Tú | crías | you raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | cría | s/he raises |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criamos | we raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criáis | you (plural) raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | crían | they raise |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to í (crío, crías, cría, crían); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Criar in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of criar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “crie”, meaning “I raised”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | crie | I raised |
| Tú | criaste | you raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | crio | s/he raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criamos | we raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criasteis | you (plural) raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | criaron | they raised |
How it’s built: Yo changes é to e (crie); ella/él changes ó to o (crio); the other forms are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Criar in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of criar is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “criaba”, meaning “I used to raise”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | criaba | I used to raise |
| Tú | criabas | you used to raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | criaba | s/he used to raise |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criábamos | we used to raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criabais | you (plural) used to raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | criaban | they used to raise |
How it’s built: Regular: stem cri- plus the -ar endings.
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Criar in the Indicative Present Continuous
The Indicative Present Continuous of criar is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy criando”, meaning “I am raising”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy criando | I am raising |
| Tú | estás criando | you are raising |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está criando | s/he is raising |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos criando | we are raising |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis criando | you (plural) are raising |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están criando | they are raising |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund criando.
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Criar in the Indicative Informal Future
The Indicative Informal Future of criar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a criar”, meaning “I am going to raise”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a criar | I am going to raise |
| Tú | vas a criar | you are going to raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a criar | s/he is going to raise |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a criar | we are going to raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a criar | you (plural) are going to raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a criar | they are going to raise |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive criar.
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Criar in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of criar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “criaré”, meaning “I will raise”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | criaré | I will raise |
| Tú | criarás | you will raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | criará | s/he will raise |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criaremos | we will raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criaréis | you (plural) will raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | criarán | they will raise |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive criar plus the future endings.
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Criar in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of criar is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “criaría”, meaning “I would raise”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | criaría | I would raise |
| Tú | criarías | you would raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | criaría | s/he would raise |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criaríamos | we would raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criaríais | you (plural) would raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | criarían | they would raise |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive criar plus the conditional endings.
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Criar in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of criar 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 criado”, meaning “I have raised”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he criado | I have raised |
| Tú | has criado | you have raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha criado | s/he has raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos criado | we have raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis criado | you (plural) have raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han criado | they have raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle criado.
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Criar in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of criar is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había criado”, meaning “I had raised”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había criado | I had raised |
| Tú | habías criado | you had raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había criado | s/he had raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos criado | we had raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais criado | you (plural) had raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían criado | they had raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle criado.
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Criar in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of criar is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré criado”, meaning “I will have raised”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré criado | I will have raised |
| Tú | habrás criado | you will have raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá criado | s/he will have raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos criado | we will have raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis criado | you (plural) will have raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán criado | they will have raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle criado.
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Criar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of criar is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría criado”, meaning “I would have raised”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría criado | I would have raised |
| Tú | habrías criado | you would have raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría criado | s/he would have raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos criado | we would have raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais criado | you (plural) would have raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían criado | they would have raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle criado.
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Subjunctive tenses of Criar
Criar 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, “críe”, meaning “I raise”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | críe | I raise |
| Tú | críes | you raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | críe | s/he raises |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criemos | we raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criéis | you (plural) raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | críen | they raise |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, crío (críe, críes, críe, críen); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Criar 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, “criara”, meaning “I raised”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | criara | I raised |
| Tú | criaras | you raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | criara | s/he raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criáramos | we raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criarais | you (plural) raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | criaran | they raised |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, criaron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (criáramos).
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Criar 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, “criare”, meaning “I will raise”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | criare | I will raise |
| Tú | criares | you will raise |
| Ella / Él / Usted | criare | s/he will raise |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criáremos | we will raise |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criareis | you (plural) will raise |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | criaren | they will raise |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, criaron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (criáremos).
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Criar 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 criado”, meaning “I have raised”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya criado | I have raised |
| Tú | hayas criado | you have raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya criado | s/he has raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos criado | we have raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis criado | you (plural) have raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan criado | they have raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle criado.
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Criar 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 criado”, meaning “I had raised”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera criado | I had raised |
| Tú | hubieras criado | you had raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera criado | s/he had raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos criado | we had raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais criado | you (plural) had raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran criado | they had raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle criado.
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Criar 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 criado”, meaning “I will have raised”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere criado | I will have raised |
| Tú | hubieres criado | you will have raised |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere criado | s/he will have raised |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos criado | we will have raised |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis criado | you (plural) will have raised |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren criado | they will have raised |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle criado.
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Imperative tenses of Criar
Criar in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “críe”, meaning “(to you formal) raise!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | cría | (to you) raise! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | críe | (to you formal) raise! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criemos | let's raise! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criad | (to you plural) raise! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | críen | (to you plural formal) raise! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (cría); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (críe, criemos, críen); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (criad).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Criar in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no críe”, meaning “(to you formal) don't raise!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no críes | (to you) don't raise! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no críe | (to you formal) don't raise! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no criemos | let's not raise! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no criéis | (to you plural) don't raise! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no críen | (to you plural formal) don't raise! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no críes, no críe, no criemos, no criéis, no críen.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Frequently asked questions about Criar
Is criar a regular or irregular verb?
Criar is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to í (crío, crías, cría, crían); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (crie) and present subjunctive (críe).
How do you conjugate criar in the present tense (presente)?
In the present tense (presente), criar is conjugated as: yo crío, tú crías, él/ella/usted cría, nosotros criamos, vosotros criáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes crían. 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 criar in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?
In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), criar is conjugated as: yo crie, tú criaste, él/ella/usted crio, nosotros criamos, vosotros criasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes criaron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
How do you conjugate criar in the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto)?
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), criar is conjugated as: yo criaba, tú criabas, él/ella/usted criaba, nosotros criábamos, vosotros criabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes criaban. 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 criar in the future tense (futuro simple)?
In the future tense (futuro simple), criar is conjugated as: yo criaré, tú criarás, él/ella/usted criará, nosotros criaremos, vosotros criaréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes criarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
How do you conjugate criar in the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente)?
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), criar is conjugated as: yo críe, tú críes, él/ella/usted críe, nosotros criemos, vosotros criéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes críen. 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 criar and criarse?
Criar means ‘to raise, to rear, to bring up’ and criarse means ‘to grow up, to be brought up’. Criarse is the reflexive form of criar, 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 crío becomes me crío. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so cría becomes críate.
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Downloadable cheat sheets
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Want to explore other verb conjugations?
Why not check out Criarse – to grow up, to be brought up or see the complete list of verbs here.
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