Conjugation of Creer

The Spanish verb creer is a common verb that usually means "to believe." The verb creer is conjugated irregularly because the -i- in the conjugation ending is sometimes changed to -y- when it is found between two vowels. The vowel combinations -eie- and -eio- then become -eye- and -eyo-.

Some common verbs that follow the same conjugation pattern as creer are leer (to read), poseer (to possess) and proveer (to provide). Some uncommon verbs with the same conjugation include descreer (to disbelieve), desposeer (to dispossess) and releer (to reread). However, be careful not to confuse the conjugation of creer with the similar verb crear.

In this article you can find the creer conjugations in the present, past, and future indicative, the subjunctive, imperative, and other verb forms.

Using the Verb Creer

Creer means "to believe." For example, you can say El niño cree en Santa Claus (The boy believes in Santa Claus), or No creo todo lo que leo (I don't believe everything I read). However, creer can also mean to think, as in having an opinion. For example, "I think she is beautiful" can be translated as Creo que ella es hermosa. Also, creer can be used in the sense of believing or having faith in someone or something, as in Creo en mis empleados (I believe in my employees) or Creo en Dios (I believe in God).

Present Indicative

Yo	creo	Yo creo en Dios.	I believe in God.
Tú	crees	Tú crees que es tarde.	You think that it is late.
Usted/él/ella	cree	Ella cree en su familia.	She believes in her family.
Nosotros	creemos	Nosotros creemos en los ángeles.	We believe in angels.
Vosotros	creéis	Vosotros creéis en vuestro médico.	You believe in your doctor.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	creen	Ellos creen que ella es buena persona.	They think she is a good person.

Preterite Indicative

Notice that in the preterite tense all the conjugations have either an accent mark or the spelling change where i becomes a y.

Yo	creí	Yo creí en Dios.	I believed in God.
Tú	creíste	Tú creíste que era tarde.	You thought that it was late.
Usted/él/ella	creyó	Ella creyó en su familia.	She believed in her family.
Nosotros	creímos	Nosotros creímos en los ángeles.	We believed in angels.
Vosotros	creísteis	Vosotros creísteis en vuestro médico.	You believed in your doctor.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	creyeron	Ellos creyeron que ella era buena persona.	They thought she was a good person.

Imperfect Indicative

Notice that all of the imperfect tense conjugations have an accent mark. The imperfect can be translated to English as "was believing" or "used to believe."

Yo	creía	Yo creía en Dios.	I used to believe in God.
Tú	creías	Tú creías que era tarde.	You used to think that it was late.
Usted/él/ella	creía	Ella creía en su familia.	She used to believe in her family.
Nosotros	creíamos	Nosotros creíamos en los ángeles.	We used to believe in angels.
Vosotros	creíais	Vosotros creíais en vuestro médico.	You used to believe in your doctor.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	creían	Ellos creían que ella era buena persona.	They used to think she was a good person.

Future Indicative

Spanish Verb Crear Conjugation, Usage, and Examples

By Jocelly Meiners

The future tense of creer is conjugated regularly, starting with the infinitive creer.

Yo	creeré	Yo creeré en Dios.	I will believe in God.
Tú	creerás	Tú creerás que es tarde.	You will think that it is late.
Usted/él/ella	creerá	Ella creerá en su familia.	She will believe in her family.
Nosotros	creeremos	Nosotros creeremos en los ángeles.	We will believe in angels.
Vosotros	creeréis	Vosotros creeréis en vuestro médico.	You will believe in your doctor.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	creerán	Ellos creerán que ella es buena persona.	They will think she is a good person.

Periphrastic Future

Yo	voy a creer	Yo voy a creer en Dios.	I am going to believe in God.
Tú	vas a creer	Tú vas a creer que es tarde.	You are going to think that it is late.
Usted/él/ella	va a creer	Ella va a creer en su familia.	She is going to believe in her family.
Nosotros	vamos a creer	Nosotros vamos a creer en los ángeles.	We are going to believe in angels.
Vosotros	vais a creer	Vosotros vais a creer en vuestro médico.	You are going to believe in your doctor.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	van a creer	Ellos van a creer que ella es buena persona.	They are going to think she is a good person.

Conditional Indicative

The conditional is usually translated to English as "would + verb," and it is also conjugated starting with the infinitive form creer.

Yo	creería	Yo creería en Dios si fuera religioso.	I would believe in God if I were religious.
Tú	creerías	Tú creerías que es tarde si supieras la hora.	You would think that it is late if you knew the time.
Usted/él/ella	creería	Ella creería en su familia, pero la han decepcionado.	She would believe in her family, but they have disappointed her.
Nosotros	creeríamos	Nosotros creeríamos en los ángeles, pero nos dan miedo.	We would believe in angels, but they scare us.
Vosotros	creeríais	Vosotros creeríais en vuestro médico si fuera más responsable.	You would believe in your doctor if he were more responsible.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	creerían	Ellos creerían que ella es buena persona, pero cometió un crimen.	They would think she is a good person, but she committed a crime.

Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The present participle, or gerund of -er verbs is normally formed with the ending -iendo, but for creer the i must change to a y.

Present Progressive of Creer

está creyendo

Ella está creyendo en su familia.

She is believing in her family.

Past Participle

To form the past participle of -er verbs you need to add the ending -ido. For the verb creer, remember to add the accent mark over the i.

Present Perfect of Creer

ha creído

Ella ha creído en su familia.

She has believed in her family.

Present Subjunctive

The present subjunctive is used in sentences with two clauses that express subjective situations such as emotion, doubt, and desire. The indicative is used in the main clause, and the subjunctive is used in the secondary clause.

Que yo	crea	Mi madre quiere que yo crea en Dios.	My mother wants me to believe in God.
Que tú	creas	Carlos no quiere que tú creas que es tarde.	Carlos doesn't want you to think it is late.
Que usted/él/ella	crea	El consejero recomienda que ella crea en su familia.	The counselor recommends that she believe in her family.
Que nosotros	creamos	Nuestra amiga sugiere que nosotros creamos en los ángeles.	Our friend suggests that we believe in angels.
Que vosotros	creáis	La enfermera espera que vosotros creáis en vuestro médico.	The nurse hopes that you believe in your doctor.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas	crean	Ana espera que ellos crean que ella es buena persona.	Ana hopes that they think she is a good person.

Imperfect Subjunctive

There are two different ways to conjugate the imperfect subjunctive, used in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world. Both options have the spelling change i to y.

Option 1

Que yo	creyera	Mi madre quería que yo creyera en Dios.	My mother wanted me to believe in God.
Que tú	creyeras	Carlos no quería que tú creyeras que es tarde.	Carlos didn't want you to think it is late.
Que usted/él/ella	creyera	El consejero recomendó que ella creyera en su familia.	The counselor recommended that she believe in her family.
Que nosotros	creyéramos	Nuestra amiga sugirió que nosotros creyéramos en los ángeles.	Our friend suggested that we believe in angels.
Que vosotros	creyerais	La enfermera esperaba que vosotros creyerais en vuestro médico.	The nurse hoped that you believe in your doctor.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas	creyeran	Ana esperaba que ellos creyeran que ella es buena persona.	Ana hoped that they think she is a good person.

Option 2

Que yo	creyese	Mi madre quería que yo creyese en Dios.	My mother wanted me to believe in God.
Que tú	creyeses	Carlos no quería que tú creyeses que es tarde.	Carlos didn't want you to think it is late.
Que usted/él/ella	creyese	El consejero recomendó que ella creyese en su familia.	The counselor recommended that she believe in her family.
Que nosotros	creyésemos	Nuestra amiga sugirió que nosotros creyésemos en los ángeles.	Our friend suggested that we believe in angels.
Que vosotros	creyeseis	La enfermera esperaba que vosotros creyeseis en vuestro médico.	The nurse hoped that you believe in your doctor.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas	creyesen	Ana esperaba que ellos creyesen que ella es buena persona.	Ana hoped that they think she is a good person.

Imperative

The imperative mood is composed of positive and negative commands, shown in the tables below.

Positive Commands

Tú	cree	¡Cree que es tarde!	Believe that it is late!
Usted	crea	¡Crea en su familia!	Believe in your family!
Nosotros	creamos	¡Creamos en los ángeles!	Let's believe in angels!
Vosotros	creed	¡Creed en vuestro médico!	Believe in your doctor!
Ustedes	crean	¡Crean que ella es buena persona!	Believe that she is a good person!

Negative Commands

Tú	no creas	¡No creas que es tarde!	Don't believe that it is late!
Usted	no crea	¡No crea en su familia!	Don't believe in your family!
Nosotros	no creamos	¡No creamos en los ángeles!	Let's not believe in angels!
Vosotros	no creáis	¡No creáis en vuestro médico!	Don't believe in your doctor!
Ustedes	no crean	¡No crean que ella es buena persona!	Don't believe that she is a good person!

Spanish Verb Creer Conjugation