Criar Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb criar means to raise, to breed, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Criar means to raise children or to breed animals: criar a sus hijos, criar gallinas. It covers both bringing up a child and rearing animals for a purpose. Like every Spanish verb, criar changes its ending for each person and tense, and this page gives you the complete picture: every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say Yo crío a sus hijos con cariño — "I raise his children lovingly". Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: criar
  • English: to raise, to breed
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: criando
  • Past participle: criado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + criado)

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for criar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for criar. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem.

Present indicative

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | crío | | tú | crías | | él/ella/Ud. | cría | | nosotros/as | criamos | | vosotros/as | criáis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | crían |

Preterite

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | crie | | tú | criaste | | él/ella/Ud. | crio | | nosotros/as | criamos | | vosotros/as | criasteis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | criaron |

Imperfect

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | criaba | | tú | criabas | | él/ella/Ud. | criaba | | nosotros/as | criábamos | | vosotros/as | criabais | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | criaban |

Future

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | criaré | | tú | criarás | | él/ella/Ud. | criará | | nosotros/as | criaremos | | vosotros/as | criaréis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | criarán |

Conditional

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | criaría | | tú | criarías | | él/ella/Ud. | criaría | | nosotros/as | criaríamos | | vosotros/as | criaríais | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | criarían |

Present perfect

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | he criado | | tú | has criado | | él/ella/Ud. | ha criado | | nosotros/as | hemos criado | | vosotros/as | habéis criado | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | han criado |

Pluperfect

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | había criado | | tú | habías criado | | él/ella/Ud. | había criado | | nosotros/as | habíamos criado | | vosotros/as | habíais criado | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían criado |

Future perfect

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | habré criado | | tú | habrás criado | | él/ella/Ud. | habrá criado | | nosotros/as | habremos criado | | vosotros/as | habréis criado | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán criado |

Conditional perfect

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | habría criado | | tú | habrías criado | | él/ella/Ud. | habría criado | | nosotros/as | habríamos criado | | vosotros/as | habríais criado | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían criado |

Present subjunctive

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | críe | | tú | críes | | él/ella/Ud. | críe | | nosotros/as | criemos | | vosotros/as | criéis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | críen |

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | criara | | tú | criaras | | él/ella/Ud. | criara | | nosotros/as | criáramos | | vosotros/as | criarais | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | criaran |

Imperative (affirmative)

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | tú | cría | | él/ella/Ud. | críe | | nosotros/as | criemos | | vosotros/as | criad | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | críen |

Imperative (negative)

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | tú | críes | | él/ella/Ud. | críe | | nosotros/as | criemos | | vosotros/as | criéis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | críen |

Gerund and past participle

Form Spanish Use
Gerund criando with estar for the progressive: está criando
Past participle criado with haber for the perfect tenses: he criado

How to use each tense

Present indicative

Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo crío a sus hijos con cariño — "I raise his children lovingly".

Preterite

Use the preterite for finished actions with a clear end, often with ayer, el año pasado or anoche. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Ayer, yo crie gallinas en el campo — "Yesterday, I raised chickens in the country".

Imperfect

Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with de niño, antes or mientras. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: De niño, yo criaba perros de raza — "As a child, I used to raise pedigree dogs".

Future

Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Mañana, yo criaré a su hijo en el pueblo — "Tomorrow, I will raise his son in the village".

Conditional

Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often with si clauses. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo criaría a sus hijos con cariño si pudiera — "I would raise his children lovingly if I could".

Present perfect

Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Hoy, yo he criado gallinas en el campo — "Today, I have raised chickens in the country".

Pluperfect

Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo ya había criado perros de raza antes de salir — "I already had raised pedigree dogs before leaving".

Future perfect

Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Para mañana, yo habré criado a su hijo en el pueblo — "By tomorrow, I will have raised his son in the village".

Conditional perfect

Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría criado a sus hijos con cariño con más tiempo — "I would have raised his children lovingly with more time".

Present subjunctive

Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él críe gallinas en el campo — "I hope he raises chickens in the country".

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past. The -ra forms are shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo criara perros de raza, todo cambiaría — "If I raised pedigree dogs, everything would change".

Imperative (affirmative)

Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Cría a su hijo en el pueblo. — "Raise his son in the village.".

Imperative (negative)

Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For criar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No críes a sus hijos con cariño. — "Do not raise his children lovingly.".

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with criar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.

  1. Yo crío a sus hijos con cariño — "I raise his children lovingly"
  2. Mi amigo cría gallinas en el campo — "My friend raises chickens in the country"
  3. Ayer, yo crie perros de raza — "Yesterday, I raised pedigree dogs"
  4. Antes, nosotros criábamos a su hijo en el pueblo — "Before, we used to raise his son in the village"
  5. Mañana, tú criarás abejas para la miel — "Tomorrow, you will raise bees for honey"
  6. Yo criaría a sus hijos con cariño si tuviera más tiempo — "I would raise his children lovingly if I had more time"
  7. Él ha criado gallinas en el campo — "He has raised chickens in the country"
  8. Espero que él críe perros de raza — "I hope he raises pedigree dogs"
  9. Yo ya había criado a su hijo en el pueblo antes de salir — "I already had raised his son in the village before leaving"
  10. Ellos criaban abejas para la miel cuando eran jóvenes — "They used to raise bees for honey when they were young"

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Espero que él cría gallinas en el campo — Right: Espero que él críe gallinas en el campo — After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: Espero que él críe gallinas en el campo — not the indicative Espero que él cría gallinas en el campo.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo crío perros de raza — Right: Ayer, yo crie perros de raza — Ayer points to a finished action in the past, so it needs the preterite: Ayer, yo crie perros de raza.
  3. Wrong: De niño, yo crie a su hijo en el pueblo todos los días — Right: De niño, yo criaba a su hijo en el pueblo todos los días — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect, not the preterite: De niño, yo criaba a su hijo en el pueblo todos los días.
  4. Wrong: Yo crío sus hijos con cariño. — Right: Yo crío a sus hijos con cariño. — criar takes a before this complement: Yo crío a sus hijos con cariño. Dropping the preposition is a common learner error.
  5. Wrong: Vosotros criais abejas para la miel. — Right: Vosotros criáis abejas para la miel. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: criáis, not criais.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on criar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ a sus hijos con cariño — "I raise his children lovingly" (present) A. criamos B. crío C. crías D. cría

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ______ gallinas en el campo — "He raised chickens in the country" (preterite) A. crie B. criaste C. criamos D. crio

  3. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ______ perros de raza — "We used to raise pedigree dogs" (imperfect) A. criabas B. criabais C. criábamos D. criaba

  4. Complete the sentence: Tú ______ a su hijo en el pueblo — "You will raise his son in the village" (future) A. criarás B. criaré C. criará D. criaremos

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ abejas para la miel — "I would raise bees for honey" (conditional) A. criaríais B. criaría C. criarías D. criaríamos

  6. Complete the sentence: Espero que él ______ a sus hijos con cariño — "I hope he raises his children lovingly" (present subjunctive) A. criéis B. críe C. críes D. criemos

  7. Complete the sentence: Si yo ______ gallinas en el campo, todo cambiaría — "If I raised chickens in the country, everything would change" (imperfect subjunctive) A. criaras B. criáramos C. criarais D. criara

  8. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ______ perros de raza — "We have raised pedigree dogs" (present perfect) A. he criado B. has criado C. ha criado D. hemos criado

  9. Complete the sentence: No ______ a su hijo en el pueblo. — "Do not raise his son in the village." (negative imperative) A. críes B. críe C. criemos D. criéis

  10. Which is the gerund of criar, used with estar for the progressive? A. crie B. criando C. criado D. crío

Answer key

  1. crío — The present form for yo is crío.
  2. crio — The preterite form for él/ella/Ud. is crio.
  3. criábamos — The imperfect form for nosotros/as is criábamos.
  4. criarás — The future form for tú is criarás.
  5. criaría — The conditional form for yo is criaría.
  6. críe — The present subjunctive form for él/ella/Ud. is críe.
  7. criara — The imperfect subjunctive form for yo is criara.
  8. hemos criado — The present perfect form for nosotros/as is hemos criado.
  9. críes — The negative imperative form is críes.
  10. criando — The gerund of criar is criando: estoy criando. The participle criado is used with haber instead.

Frequently asked questions

What does criar mean in English?

criar means to raise, to breed. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo crío a sus hijos con cariño — "I raise his children lovingly". The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

Is criar regular?

Yes. criar is a regular -ar verb, so once you know the endings for its class you can conjugate it in every tense. The only thing to watch is the written accent on some forms, such as criáis.

What is the gerund and the past participle of criar?

The gerund is criando and the past participle is criado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.

How do I say "I raise" in the past?

It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Ayer, yo crie gallinas en el campo — "Yesterday, I raised chickens in the country". For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: De niño, yo criaba perros de raza — "As a child, I used to raise pedigree dogs". For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Hoy, yo he criado gallinas en el campo — "Today, I have raised chickens in the country".

What is the difference between criar and educar?

Educar is to educate or bring up a child in the sense of teaching. Criar is the wider verb for raising children and breeding animals. Criar means to raise children or to breed animals: criar a sus hijos, criar gallinas. It covers both bringing up a child and rearing animals for a purpose.

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