Creer Conjugation in Spanish
creer means “believe” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 19 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for beliefs and opinions, for trusting someone, and for thinking something is true. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of creer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo creo en la suerte todos los días.” — “I believe in luck every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: creer
- English: to believe
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: creyendo
- Past participle: creído
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for creer. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | creo |
| tú | crees |
| él/ella/Ud. | cree |
| nosotros/as | creemos |
| vosotros/as | creéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | creen |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | creí |
| tú | creíste |
| él/ella/Ud. | creyó |
| nosotros/as | creímos |
| vosotros/as | creísteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | creyeron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | creía |
| tú | creías |
| él/ella/Ud. | creía |
| nosotros/as | creíamos |
| vosotros/as | creíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | creían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | creeré |
| tú | creerás |
| él/ella/Ud. | creerá |
| nosotros/as | creeremos |
| vosotros/as | creeréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | creerán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | creería |
| tú | creerías |
| él/ella/Ud. | creería |
| nosotros/as | creeríamos |
| vosotros/as | creeríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | creerían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he creído |
| tú | has creído |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha creído |
| nosotros/as | hemos creído |
| vosotros/as | habéis creído |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han creído |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había creído |
| tú | habías creído |
| él/ella/Ud. | había creído |
| nosotros/as | habíamos creído |
| vosotros/as | habíais creído |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían creído |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré creído |
| tú | habrás creído |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá creído |
| nosotros/as | habremos creído |
| vosotros/as | habréis creído |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán creído |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría creído |
| tú | habrías creído |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría creído |
| nosotros/as | habríamos creído |
| vosotros/as | habríais creído |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían creído |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | crea |
| tú | creas |
| él/ella/Ud. | crea |
| nosotros/as | creamos |
| vosotros/as | creáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | crean |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | creyera |
| tú | creyeras |
| él/ella/Ud. | creyera |
| nosotros/as | creyéramos |
| vosotros/as | creyerais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | creyeran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | cree |
| él/ella/Ud. | crea |
| nosotros/as | creamos |
| vosotros/as | creed |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | crean |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | creas |
| él/ella/Ud. | crea |
| nosotros/as | creamos |
| vosotros/as | creáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | crean |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | creyendo |
| Past participle | creído |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo creo en la suerte todos los días.” — “I believe in luck every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú creíste todo lo que dice ayer.” — “You believed everything he says yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él creía en sus palabras antes.” — “He used to believe in his words before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo creeré en la suerte mañana.” — “I will believe in luck tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú creerías todo lo que dice algún día.” — “You would believe everything he says someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha creído en sus palabras esta semana.” — “He has believed in his words this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había creído en la suerte antes de la fiesta.” — “I had believed in luck before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás creído todo lo que dice para mañana.” — “You will have believed everything he says by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría creído en sus palabras ayer.” — “He would have believed in his words yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo crea en la suerte.” — “It is important that i believe in luck.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú creyeras todo lo que dice.” — “I wish you believed everything he says.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of creer gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Cree en sus palabras!” — “Believe in his words!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of creer gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No creas en la suerte.” — “Do not believe in luck.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with creer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo creo en la suerte todos los días.” — “I believe in luck every day.”
- “Tú creíste todo lo que dice ayer.” — “You believed everything he says yesterday.”
- “Él creía en sus palabras antes.” — “He used to believe in his words before.”
- “Yo creeré todo lo que dice mañana.” — “I will believe everything he says tomorrow.”
- “Tú creerías en la suerte algún día.” — “You would believe in luck someday.”
- “Él ha creído en sus palabras esta semana.” — “He has believed in his words this week.”
- “Yo había creído en la suerte antes de la fiesta.” — “I had believed in luck before the party.”
- “Tú habrás creído todo lo que dice para mañana.” — “You will have believed everything he says by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él crea en sus palabras.” — “It is important that he believe in his words.”
- “¡Cree en la suerte!” — “Believe in luck!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo creer en la suerte.”
✓ Right: “Yo creo en la suerte.”
The infinitive creer never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form creo.
2. Confusing creer with pensar
✗ Wrong: “Yo pienso en la suerte.”
✓ Right: “Yo creo en la suerte.”
Creer is to believe; pensar is to think — both take que + a clause.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy creído en la suerte.”
✓ Right: “Yo he creído en la suerte.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle creído.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “crei”
✓ Right: “creí”
The accent on creí is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú crees en la suerte.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú creas en la suerte.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use creas here, not the indicative crees.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo creí en la suerte antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo creía en la suerte antes.”
The preterite creí describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect creía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on creer. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of creer in the Present indicative?
- A) crees
- B) cree
- C) creemos
- D) creo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of creer in the Preterite?
- A) creíste
- B) creímos
- C) creyó
- D) creí
What is the nosotros/as form of creer in the Imperfect?
- A) creíais
- B) creíamos
- C) creía
- D) creías
What is the tú form of creer in the Future?
- A) creerás
- B) creeré
- C) creerá
- D) creeremos
What is the yo form of creer in the Conditional?
- A) creerías
- B) creeríamos
- C) creeríais
- D) creería
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of creer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) creamos
- B) creáis
- C) crea
- D) creas
What is the yo form of creer in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) creyerais
- B) creyera
- C) creyeras
- D) creyéramos
What is the gerund of creer?
- A) creyendo
- B) quedando
- C) hablando
- D) llevando
What is the past participle of creer?
- A) quedado
- B) hablado
- C) llevado
- D) creído
What does creer mean in English?
- A) to speak
- B) to carry
- C) to believe
- D) to stay
Answer key
- D) creo — the yo form of creer in the present indicative is creo. The other options (crees, cree, creemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) creyó — the él/ella/Ud. form of creer in the preterite is creyó. The other options (creí, creíste, creímos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) creíamos — the nosotros/as form of creer in the imperfect is creíamos. The other options (creía, creías, creía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) creerás — the tú form of creer in the future is creerás. The other options (creeré, creerá, creeremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) creería — the yo form of creer in the conditional is creería. The other options (creerías, creería, creeríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) crea — the él/ella/Ud. form of creer in the present subjunctive is crea. The other options (crea, creas, creamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) creyera — the yo form of creer in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is creyera. The other options (creyeras, creyera, creyéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) creyendo — the gerund of creer is creyendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) creído — the past participle of creer is creído; perfect tenses use haber + creído. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to believe — creer means “to believe” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does creer mean in English?
creer means “to believe”. You use it for beliefs and opinions, for trusting someone, and for thinking something is true. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is creer regular or irregular?
creer is irregular, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is creyendo and the past participle is creído.
What are the gerund and past participle of creer?
The gerund is creyendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is creído — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he creído (I have believed).
What is the difference between creer and pensar?
Creer is to believe; pensar is to think — both take que + a clause. If you are unsure, check the full table for pensar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I believe” in Spanish?
Say “Yo creo en la suerte.” — “I believe in luck every day.” The yo form of the present is creo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- creer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- creer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Quedar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Hablar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Llevar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise creer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise creer with the interactive tool.