Crier Conjugation in French
crier means “shout” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for talking about noise, for describing a match, and for calling someone from far away. 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 crier — 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: “Je crie très fort.” — “I shout very loudly.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: crier
- English: shout
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
- Gerund: en criant
- Past participle: crié
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for crier, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for crier. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | crie |
| tu | cries |
| il/elle | crie |
| nous | crions |
| vous | criez |
| ils/elles | crient |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | criai |
| tu | crias |
| il/elle | cria |
| nous | criâmes |
| vous | criâtes |
| ils/elles | crièrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | criais |
| tu | criais |
| il/elle | criait |
| nous | criions |
| vous | criiez |
| ils/elles | criaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | crierai |
| tu | crieras |
| il/elle | criera |
| nous | crierons |
| vous | crierez |
| ils/elles | crieront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | crierais |
| tu | crierais |
| il/elle | crierait |
| nous | crierions |
| vous | crieriez |
| ils/elles | crieraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | crie |
| tu | cries |
| il/elle | crie |
| nous | criions |
| vous | criiez |
| ils/elles | crient |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | criasse |
| tu | criasses |
| il/elle | criât |
| nous | criassions |
| vous | criassiez |
| ils/elles | criassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai crié |
| tu | as crié |
| il/elle | a crié |
| nous | avons crié |
| vous | avez crié |
| ils/elles | ont crié |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais crié |
| tu | avais crié |
| il/elle | avait crié |
| nous | avions crié |
| vous | aviez crié |
| ils/elles | avaient crié |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai crié |
| tu | auras crié |
| il/elle | aura crié |
| nous | aurons crié |
| vous | aurez crié |
| ils/elles | auront crié |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais crié |
| tu | aurais crié |
| il/elle | aurait crié |
| nous | aurions crié |
| vous | auriez crié |
| ils/elles | auraient crié |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | crie |
| nous | crions |
| vous | criez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | crie |
| nous | crions |
| vous | criez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en criant |
| Past participle | crié |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je crie dans la rue.” — “I shout in the street.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je criai dans la rue hier.” — “I shouted in the street yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je criais dans la rue avant.” — “I used to shout in the street before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je crierai dans la rue demain.” — “I will shout in the street tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je crierais dans la rue un jour.” — “I would shout in the street one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que je crie dans la rue” — “Although I shout in the street.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, in formal and literary French. For example: “Bien que je criasse dans la rue” — “Although I shout in the street.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For example: “J'ai crié dans la rue cette semaine.” — “I have shouted in the street this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais crié dans la rue avant la fête.” — “I had shouted in the street before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “J'aurai crié dans la rue pour demain.” — “I will have shouted in the street by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais crié dans la rue hier.” — “I would have shouted in the street yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “crie dans la rue !” — “Shout in the street!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne crie pas dans la rue !” — “Don't shout in the street!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en criant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle crié builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai crié de joie cette semaine.” — “I have shouted with joy this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with crier, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je crie très fort.” — “I shout very loudly.”
- “Tu crias dans la rue hier.” — “You shouted in the street yesterday.”
- “Il criait de joie avant.” — “He used to shout with joy before.”
- “Je crierai souvent demain.” — “I will shout often tomorrow.”
- “Tu crierais très fort un jour.” — “You would shout very loudly one day.”
- “Il a crié dans la rue cette semaine.” — “He has shouted in the street this week.”
- “J'avais crié de joie avant la fête.” — “I had shouted with joy before the party.”
- “Tu auras crié souvent pour demain.” — “You will have shouted often by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il crie très fort” — “Although he shouts very loudly.”
- “crie dans la rue !” — “Shout in the street!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je crier très fort.”
✓ Right: “Je crie très fort.”
The infinitive crier never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form crie.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je crions dans la rue.”
✓ Right: “Je crie dans la rue.”
crions is the nous form. With je the present form is crie — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je crie très fort.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai crié très fort.”
The present crie describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai crié.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je criai de joie.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai crié de joie.”
The passé simple criai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai crié.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je crie très fort.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je crie très fort.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use crie here, not the indicative crie.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je criais souvent avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'ai crié souvent avant.”
The imperfect criais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai crié.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on crier. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of crier in the Present indicative?
- A) crient
- B) criez
- C) crions
- D) crie
What is the il/elle form of crier in the Passé simple?
- A) criai
- B) cria
- C) criâmes
- D) crièrent
What is the nous form of crier in the Imperfect?
- A) criiez
- B) criais
- C) criions
- D) criait
What is the tu form of crier in the Future?
- A) criera
- B) crieras
- C) crierons
- D) crieront
What is the je form of crier in the Conditional?
- A) crierions
- B) crieraient
- C) crieriez
- D) crierais
What is the il/elle form of crier in the Present subjunctive?
- A) crie
- B) cries
- C) criions
- D) crient
What is the je form of crier in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) criasse
- B) criassiez
- C) criassent
- D) criasses
What is the gerund of crier?
- A) buvant
- B) criant
- C) dormant
What is the past participle of crier?
- A) dormi
- B) crié
- C) bu
What does crier mean in English?
- A) open
- B) shout
- C) drink
- D) sleep
Answer key
- D) crie — The je form of crier in the present indicative is crie.
- B) cria — The il/elle form of crier in the passé simple is cria.
- C) criions — The nous form of crier in the imperfect is criions.
- B) crieras — The tu form of crier in the future is crieras.
- D) crierais — The je form of crier in the conditional is crierais.
- A) crie — The il/elle form of crier in the present subjunctive is crie.
- A) criasse — The je form of crier in the imperfect subjunctive is criasse.
- B) criant — The gerund of crier is en criant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) crié — The past participle of crier is crié; perfect tenses use avoir + crié.
- B) shout — crier means “shout” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does crier mean in English?
crier means “shout”. You use it for talking about noise, for describing a match, and for calling someone from far away. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is crier regular or irregular?
crier is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en criant and the past participle is crié.
What are the gerund and past participle of crier?
The gerund is en criant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is crié — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai crié.
How do I say “I shout” in French?
Say “Je crie très fort.” — “I shout very loudly.” The je form of the present is crie, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between crier and rire?
crier means “shout” while rire means “laugh” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for rire and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Crier Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Crier Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Rire conjugation
- Pleurer conjugation
- Parler conjugation
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages and tools.
- Verb Conjugator — practise crier with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise crier with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise crier with the interactive tool.