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How to conjugate Criarse in Spanish

criarse to grow up, to be brought up Irregular Verb

At a glance: Criarse (to grow up, to be brought up) is a widely used reflexive irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: me crío, te crías, se cría, nos criamos, os criáis, se 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 (me crie) and present subjunctive (me críe).

Past participle
criado grown up
Gerund
criando growing up
Similar
crecer

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Indicative tenses of Criarse

Criarse in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of criarse 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, “me crío”, meaning “I grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome críoI grow up
Túte críasyou grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse crías/he grows up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criamoswe grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criáisyou (plural) grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse críanthey grow up

How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change i to í (crío, crías, cría, crían); nosotros and vosotros are regular. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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

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Criarse in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of criarse is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “me crie”, meaning “I grew up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome crieI grew up
Túte criasteyou grew up
Ella / Él / Ustedse crios/he grew up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criamoswe grew up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criasteisyou (plural) grew up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse criaronthey grew up

How it’s built: Yo changes é to e (crie); ella/él changes ó to o (crio); the other forms are regular. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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

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Criarse in the Indicative Imperfect

The Indicative Imperfect of criarse is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “me criaba”, meaning “I used to grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome criabaI used to grow up
Túte criabasyou used to grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse criabas/he used to grow up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criábamoswe used to grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criabaisyou (plural) used to grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse criabanthey used to grow up

How it’s built: Regular: stem cri- plus the -ar endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of criarse is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “me estoy criando”, meaning “I am growing up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome estoy criandoI am growing up
Túte estás criandoyou are growing up
Ella / Él / Ustedse está criandos/he is growing up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos estamos criandowe are growing up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos estáis criandoyou (plural) are growing up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse están criandothey are growing up

How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund criando. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Informal Future

The Indicative Informal Future of criarse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “me voy a criar”, meaning “I am going to grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome voy a criarI am going to grow up
Túte vas a criaryou are going to grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse va a criars/he is going to grow up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos vamos a criarwe are going to grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos vais a criaryou (plural) are going to grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse van a criarthey are going to grow up

How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive criar. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of criarse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “me criaré”, meaning “I will grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome criaréI will grow up
Túte criarásyou will grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse criarás/he will grow up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criaremoswe will grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criaréisyou (plural) will grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse criaránthey will grow up

How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive criar plus the future endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Conditional

The Indicative Conditional of criarse is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “me criaría”, meaning “I would grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome criaríaI would grow up
Túte criaríasyou would grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse criarías/he would grow up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criaríamoswe would grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criaríaisyou (plural) would grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse criaríanthey would grow up

How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive criar plus the conditional endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of criarse 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, “me he criado”, meaning “I have grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome he criadoI have grown up
Túte has criadoyou have grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse ha criados/he has grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hemos criadowe have grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habéis criadoyou (plural) have grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse han criadothey have grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Past Perfect

The Indicative Past Perfect of criarse is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “me había criado”, meaning “I had grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome había criadoI had grown up
Túte habías criadoyou had grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse había criados/he had grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habíamos criadowe had grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habíais criadoyou (plural) had grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habían criadothey had grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Future Perfect

The Indicative Future Perfect of criarse is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “me habré criado”, meaning “I will have grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome habré criadoI will have grown up
Túte habrás criadoyou will have grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse habrá criados/he will have grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habremos criadowe will have grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habréis criadoyou (plural) will have grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habrán criadothey will have grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

The Indicative Conditional Perfect of criarse is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “me habría criado”, meaning “I would have grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome habría criadoI would have grown up
Túte habrías criadoyou would have grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse habría criados/he would have grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habríamos criadowe would have grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habríais criadoyou (plural) would have grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habrían criadothey would have grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Subjunctive tenses of Criarse

Criarse 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, “me críe”, meaning “I grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome críeI grow up
Túte críesyou grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse críes/he grows up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criemoswe grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criéisyou (plural) grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse críenthey grow up

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. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse 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, “me criara”, meaning “I grew up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome criaraI grew up
Túte criarasyou grew up
Ella / Él / Ustedse criaras/he grew up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criáramoswe grew up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criaraisyou (plural) grew up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse criaranthey grew up

How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, criaron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (criáramos). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse 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, “me criare”, meaning “I will grow up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome criareI will grow up
Túte criaresyou will grow up
Ella / Él / Ustedse criares/he will grow up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos criáremoswe will grow up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos criareisyou (plural) will grow up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse criarenthey will grow up

How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, criaron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (criáremos). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse 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, “me haya criado”, meaning “I have grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome haya criadoI have grown up
Túte hayas criadoyou have grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse haya criados/he has grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hayamos criadowe have grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hayáis criadoyou (plural) have grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hayan criadothey have grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse 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, “me hubiera criado”, meaning “I had grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome hubiera criadoI had grown up
Túte hubieras criadoyou had grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse hubiera criados/he had grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hubiéramos criadowe had grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hubierais criadoyou (plural) had grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hubieran criadothey had grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Criarse 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, “me hubiere criado”, meaning “I will have grown up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome hubiere criadoI will have grown up
Túte hubieres criadoyou will have grown up
Ella / Él / Ustedse hubiere criados/he will have grown up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hubiéremos criadowe will have grown up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hubiereis criadoyou (plural) will have grown up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hubieren criadothey will have grown up

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle criado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Imperative tenses of Criarse

Criarse in the Imperative Affirmative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túcríate(to you) grow up!
Ella / Él / Ustedcríese(to you formal) grow up!
Nosotras / Nosotroscriémonoslet's grow up!
Vosotras / Vosotroscriaos(to you plural) grow up!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescríense(to you plural formal) grow up!

How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present and attaches te (críate); usted and ustedes take the subjunctive present and attach se (críese, críense); nosotros takes the subjunctive present, drops the s and attaches nos (criémonos); vosotros drops the final r of the infinitive and attaches os (criaos).

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Criarse in the Imperative Negative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno te críes(to you) don't grow up!
Ella / Él / Ustedno se críe(to you formal) don't grow up!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno nos criemoslet's not grow up!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno os criéis(to you plural) don't grow up!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno se críen(to you plural formal) don't grow up!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no te críes, no se críe, no nos criemos, no os criéis, no se críen.

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Frequently asked questions about Criarse

Is criarse a regular or irregular verb?

Criarse 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 (me crie) and present subjunctive (me críe).

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

In the present tense (presente), criarse is conjugated as: yo me crío, tú te crías, él/ella/usted se cría, nosotros nos criamos, vosotros os criáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se 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 criarse in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), criarse is conjugated as: yo me crie, tú te criaste, él/ella/usted se crio, nosotros nos criamos, vosotros os criasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se criaron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

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

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), criarse is conjugated as: yo me criaba, tú te criabas, él/ella/usted se criaba, nosotros nos criábamos, vosotros os criabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes se 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 criarse in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), criarse is conjugated as: yo me criaré, tú te criarás, él/ella/usted se criará, nosotros nos criaremos, vosotros os criaréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se criarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

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

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), criarse is conjugated as: yo me críe, tú te críes, él/ella/usted se críe, nosotros nos criemos, vosotros os criéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se 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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