creer imperfect tense conjugation
Creer (to believe/think) in the imperfect tense: creía, creías, creía, creíamos, creíais, creían.
Pretérito imperfecto Imperfect
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the imperfect tense
The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions (“was doing”), descriptions, age and time. “Cuando era niño, vivía en Sevilla.”
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban; -er/-ir → ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
Creer is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Creer in a sentence
- Creo que tienes razón.I think you're right.
- No creyeron la historia.They didn't believe the story.
Spelling change i→y in third person preterite/gerund: 'creyó', 'creyendo'.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of creer?
Creer in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo creía, tú creías, él/ella/usted creía, nosotros creíamos, vosotros creíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes creían.
Is creer irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense creer takes the regular endings for its verb class, so creía follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish imperfect tense?
The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions (“was doing”), descriptions, age and time. “Cuando era niño, vivía en Sevilla.”
How is the imperfect tense formed?
Regular endings: -ar → aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban; -er/-ir → ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
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