The Spanish verb creer means "to believe". Below are its 8 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of creer is yo creo, tú crees, él/ella/usted cree, nosotros creemos, vosotros creéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes creen. It counts as a regular -er verb, though 11 of its forms differ from the model pattern and are marked in the tables. The tables below cover 8 tenses, from the present to the present perfect.
Forms in orange break the regular -er pattern.
| yo | creo | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | crees | |
| él/ | cree | |
| nosotros | creemos | |
| vosotros | creéis | |
| ellos/ | creen |
| yo | creí |
|---|---|
| tú | creíste (irregular) |
| él/ | creyó (irregular) |
| nosotros | creímos (irregular) |
| vosotros | creísteis (irregular) |
| ellos/ | creyeron (irregular) |
| yo | creía |
|---|---|
| tú | creías |
| él/ | creía |
| nosotros | creíamos |
| vosotros | creíais |
| ellos/ | creían |
| yo | creeré |
|---|---|
| tú | creerás |
| él/ | creerá |
| nosotros | creeremos |
| vosotros | creeréis |
| ellos/ | creerán |
| yo | creería |
|---|---|
| tú | creerías |
| él/ | creería |
| nosotros | creeríamos |
| vosotros | creeríais |
| ellos/ | creerían |
| yo | crea |
|---|---|
| tú | creas |
| él/ | crea |
| nosotros | creamos |
| vosotros | creáis |
| ellos/ | crean |
| tú | cree |
|---|---|
| usted | crea |
| nosotros | creamos |
| vosotros | creed |
| ustedes | crean |
| yo | he creído (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | has creído (irregular) |
| él/ | ha creído (irregular) |
| nosotros | hemos creído (irregular) |
| vosotros | habéis creído (irregular) |
| ellos/ | han creído (irregular) |
Creer is regular, with spelling changes only. The spelling changes include creyó and creyeron in the preterite, creyendo in the gerund, and creído as the past participle. The present perfect uses forms of haber plus creído.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in Spanish with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
Yes, creer is regular, with spelling changes only. Its forms follow the regular -er model shown by the table.
The spelling changes to creyó and creyeron occur in the third person preterite forms. The other preterite forms are creí, creíste, creímos, and creísteis.
The gerund is creyendo. The past participle is creído, and the present perfect uses haber plus creído.