Trouble with CREER conjugation? Learn ‘to believe’ with CHUNKS, never forget it again!

Trouble with CREER? Learn it with CHUNKS, never forget it again!

Actor 1
¿Qué crees?
(Guess what? (Lit.: What do you believe?)

Actor 2
¿Qué?
(What?)

Actor 1
No me lo vas a creer.
(You’re not going to believe me.)

Creer is a very common verb in Spanish. It’s an irregular verb, so creer conjugation can be tricky. But today we’re learning through chunks, so it’s going to be much easier. I’m Paulísima from Spring Spanish.

Empecemos. (Let’s get started!)

1. Creer conjugation: Yo creo, tĂş crees (I believe, you believe)

Creer generally means to believe.

Creer is a Spanish verb that translates to “to believe” or “to think.” It is used to express beliefs and opinions. For example, Yo creo que está lloviendo (“I think it’s raining”).

Por ejemplo: (For example:)

Actor 1
ÂżTĂş crees en Dios?
(Do you believe in God?)

Actor 2
Sí. Creo en Dios, pero más bien creo en un ser superior. Creo que hay algo más poderoso y elevado que nosotros.
(Yes. I believe in God, but it’s more like I believe in a higher being. I believe that there is something more powerful and more elevated than us.)

In this case, to ask if someone believes in God we say “Crees en Dios?” (Do you believe in God?) “Crees”. The conjugation there is for the person “tú” (you). And to answer we say: Creo en Dios. (I believe in God.) S’i, si creo en Dios o No, no creo en Dios. There the conjugation “creo” is for the person” yo”.

Notice that EN. Creo EN, I believe IN. Veamos algunas cosas más que podemos “creer”. (Let’s see some more things in which we can “believe”.)

  • Creo en un poder superior. (I believe in a higher power.)
  • Creo en la democracia. (I believe in democracy.)
  • Creo en los milagros. (I believe in miracles.)

2. Cuando Creer Significa “to think”. (When “creer” means “to think”.)

But “creer” also means “think.” But attention, here we don’t say CREO EN, we say CREO QUE.

Sobrina
Tia Peque ¿Crees que me puedas ayudar con mi tarea mañana?
(Aunt Peque, do you think you can help me with my homework tomorrow?)

TĂ­a
¿Mañana? No creo, pero más tarde estoy libre. Si tú puedes, te ayudo.
(Tomorrow? I don’t think so, but later I’m free. If you can, I help you.)

(Later that day)

Sobrina
Tía Peque, ¿qué crees?
(Aunt Peque, guess what?)

TĂ­a
¿Qué?
(What?)

Sobrina
También necesito hacer una encuesta sobre las elecciones. ¿Me ayudas?
(I also need to run a poll about the elections. Would you help me?)

Más ejemplos: (More examples:)

Sobrina
ÂżCrees que el partido del presidente gane las prĂłximas elecciones?
(Do you think that the party of the president will win the next elections?)

TĂ­a
SĂ­.
(Yes.)

Sobrina
ÂżEn serio? ÂżTan segura?
(Really? So sure?)

TĂ­a
Pues sĂ­, es que no creo que la oposiciĂłn tenga un buen candidato. Por eso creo que el candidato del presidente va a ganar.
(Well yes, it’s just that I don’t think that the opposition has a good candidate. That is why I think that the president’s candidate is going to win.)

Three little things to observe:

Forma negativa. (Negative form.) To say “I don’t think that”. We simply add “no” before creo que. No creo que... (I don’t think that…)

Usa el subjuntivo después la forma negativa. (Use the Subjunctive after the negative form.) Second thing, super important. After “No creo que” we have to use the subjunctive. In this case: No creo que la oposición TENGA buenos candidato. (I don’t think that the opposition HAS good candidate.) No creo que la oposición TENGA un buen candidato. (I don’t think that the opposition HAS a good candidate.)If you’re confused with the subjective, you’re not alone, it’s one of the trickiest thing to master in the Spanish language. Here’s Mariana to help you out though.

Cuando creer significa “think”. (When “creer” means “think”.) Finally, when we use “creer” as “think” we use “que” not “en”. No creo QUE la oposición tenga un buen candidato. (I don’t think that the opposition has a good candidate.) Or, same thing but with the subjunctive, because we start with NO CREO: No creo QUE la oposición TENGA buenos candidatos.

3. Él o ella cree (He or she believes)

Sobrina
Estaba haciendo una encuesta sobre las elecciones ¿y qué crees?
(I was running a poll about the elections and guess what?)

Actor 3
¿Qué?
(What?)

Sobrina
Que la mayorĂ­a de las personas creen que va a ganar el partido del presidente.
(That most people think that the president’s party is going to win.)

Actor 3
ÂżEn serio?
(Really?)

Sobrina
SĂ­, hasta tĂ­a Peque cree que va a ganar el partido gobernante.
(Yes, even aunt Peque thinks that the governing party is going to win.)

Actor 3
Bueno, es que ella no cree en la oposición, pero hay opiniones contrarias. Mi papá es un ejemplo. Él no cree que el pueblo mexicano vuelva a votar por el partido del presidente.
(Well, it’s just that she doesn’t believe in the opposition, but there are opinions on the contrary. My father, for example. He doesn’t think that the Mexican people would vote again for the president’s party.)

Chunk Alert

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that “¿Qué crees?” (Guess what?) is an important chunk to learn. It means “Guess what?” “¿Qué crees?” if you click on the link below, you can get our Essential Spanish Chunking Kit for free.

4. Nosotros Creemos (We believe)

Sobrina
Ya nada más me falta entrevistar a veinticinco personas.
(I only need to interview 25 more people.)

TĂ­a
Qué bien. ¿Y lo estás haciendo sola?
(That’s good. And are you doing it alone?)

Sobrina
No, somos un equipo de tres.
(No, we are a team of 3.)

TĂ­a
¿Cuándo creen que van a terminar?
(When do you think you will be done?)

Sobrina
Creemos que hoy mismo.
(We think that today.)
Creemos. (We believe.)

Más ejemplos: (More examples:)

La mayoría de nosotros los mexicanos creemos en Dios, creemos en la importancia de la familia, y también creemos que un taco sin limón no es taco. (Most of us Mexicans believe in God, believe in the importance of family, and we also believe that a taco without lime is not a taco.)

5. Ustedes y ellos creen (You and they believe)

For “ustedes” the plural you and “ellos”, they, the conjugation of “creer” is the same: creen.

Sobrina
Buenas tardes clase. Les vamos a presentar los resultados de una encuesta sobre las prĂłximas elecciones.
(Good afternoon class. We are going to present to you the results of a poll we ran about the upcoming elections.)

Maestra
¿Crees que puedas hablar un poco más fuerte?
(Do you think you can speak a bit louder?)

Sobrina
SĂ­, claro, maestra. Entrevistamos a doscientos mexicanos. Les hicimos la pregunta: ÂżCrees que en las prĂłximas elecciones ganará el partido del presidente? Ciento veinte personas respondieron que… Âżustedes que creen que sĂ­ o que no? ÂżMaestra?
(Yes, of course, teacher. We interviewed 200 Mexicans. We asked the question: Do you think that in the next election, the president’s party will win? 120 said that… do you all think that they said yes or no?)

Maestra
No sé.
(I don’t know.)

Sobrina
Ciento veinte personas, es decir, el sesenta por ciento de las personas entrevistadas, creen que sí ganará el partido del presidente. ¿Ustedes creen que tienen razón?
(120 people, that is, 60 % of the interviewed, said they believe that the president’s party will win. Do you think they are right?)

6. La tabla (The table)

Para todos que les gusta ver las cosas resumidas y en una imagen. (For those of you who like to see things in an image and summarized.)

PronombreConjugacionExample (Ejemplo)
Yo (I)Creo (I believe/think)Creo en Dios. (I believe in God.)
Tú (You)Crees (You believe/think)¿Qué crees? (Gues what?)
Él/Ella/Ello (He/She/It)Cree (He/She/It believes/thinks)Ella no cree en la oposición. (She doesn’t believe in the opposition.)
Nosotros (We)Creemos (We believe/think)Creemos en la importancia de la familia. (We believe in the importance of family.)
Ustedes (You plural)Creen (You plural believe/think)ÂżUstedes creen que sĂ­ o que no? (Do you think yes or no?)
Ellos (They)Creen (They believe/think)Creen que sí ganará el partido del presidente. (They think the party of the president will win.)

If you’re ready to explore more conjugations, you have to check out the playlist we made about the most important Spanish verbs. That’s on the next lesson.

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