Ella Verbscriarse 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).

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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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me crío | I grow up |
| Tú | te crías | you grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se cría | s/he grows up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criamos | we grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criáis | you (plural) grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se crían | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me crie | I grew up |
| Tú | te criaste | you grew up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se crio | s/he grew up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criamos | we grew up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criasteis | you (plural) grew up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se criaron | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me criaba | I used to grow up |
| Tú | te criabas | you used to grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se criaba | s/he used to grow up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criábamos | we used to grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criabais | you (plural) used to grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se criaban | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me estoy criando | I am growing up |
| Tú | te estás criando | you are growing up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se está criando | s/he is growing up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos estamos criando | we are growing up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os estáis criando | you (plural) are growing up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se están criando | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me voy a criar | I am going to grow up |
| Tú | te vas a criar | you are going to grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se va a criar | s/he is going to grow up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos vamos a criar | we are going to grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os vais a criar | you (plural) are going to grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se van a criar | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me criaré | I will grow up |
| Tú | te criarás | you will grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se criará | s/he will grow up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criaremos | we will grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criaréis | you (plural) will grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se criarán | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me criaría | I would grow up |
| Tú | te criarías | you would grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se criaría | s/he would grow up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criaríamos | we would grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criaríais | you (plural) would grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se criarían | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he criado | I have grown up |
| Tú | te has criado | you have grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se ha criado | s/he has grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hemos criado | we have grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habéis criado | you (plural) have grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se han criado | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me había criado | I had grown up |
| Tú | te habías criado | you had grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se había criado | s/he had grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habíamos criado | we had grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habíais criado | you (plural) had grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habían criado | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me habré criado | I will have grown up |
| Tú | te habrás criado | you will have grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se habrá criado | s/he will have grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habremos criado | we will have grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habréis criado | you (plural) will have grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habrán criado | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me habría criado | I would have grown up |
| Tú | te habrías criado | you would have grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se habría criado | s/he would have grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habríamos criado | we would have grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habríais criado | you (plural) would have grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habrían criado | they 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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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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me críe | I grow up |
| Tú | te críes | you grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se críe | s/he grows up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criemos | we grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criéis | you (plural) grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se críen | they 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.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me criara | I grew up |
| Tú | te criaras | you grew up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se criara | s/he grew up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criáramos | we grew up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criarais | you (plural) grew up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se criaran | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me criare | I will grow up |
| Tú | te criares | you will grow up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se criare | s/he will grow up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos criáremos | we will grow up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os criareis | you (plural) will grow up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se criaren | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me haya criado | I have grown up |
| Tú | te hayas criado | you have grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se haya criado | s/he has grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hayamos criado | we have grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hayáis criado | you (plural) have grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hayan criado | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me hubiera criado | I had grown up |
| Tú | te hubieras criado | you had grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se hubiera criado | s/he had grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hubiéramos criado | we had grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hubierais criado | you (plural) had grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hubieran criado | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me hubiere criado | I will have grown up |
| Tú | te hubieres criado | you will have grown up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se hubiere criado | s/he will have grown up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hubiéremos criado | we will have grown up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hubiereis criado | you (plural) will have grown up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hubieren criado | they 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.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | críate | (to you) grow up! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | críese | (to you formal) grow up! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | criémonos | let's grow up! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | criaos | (to you plural) grow up! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | críense | (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).
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no te críes | (to you) don't grow up! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no se críe | (to you formal) don't grow up! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no nos criemos | let's not grow up! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no os criéis | (to you plural) don't grow up! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no 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.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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