criar Imperfect Conjugation
criar — to raise
The imperfect of criar is regular: criaba, criabas, criaba, criábamos, criabais, criaban.
criar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe the ongoing process of growing up or raising someone in the past, often translated as 'was raising' or 'used to raise'.
Notes on criar in the Imperfect
Criar is regular in the imperfect. Note the accent on the 'a' in the nosotros form (criábamos).
Example Sentences
Mi abuela criaba cerdos en el campo.
My grandmother used to raise pigs in the countryside.
él/ella/usted
Cuando nos criábamos, siempre jugábamos fuera.
When we were growing up, we always played outside.
nosotros
Ellos criaban a sus hijos con libertad.
They were raising their children with freedom.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'criábamos'.
Correct: criábamos
Why: All -ar verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the first 'a' of the nosotros ending.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: crío
The present tense of criar features a hiatus, meaning the 'i' takes a mandatory accent in most forms: crío, crías, cría, crían.
Preterite
yo: crié
The preterite of criar is regular but requires accents on the 'i' and 'o' for the yo and él forms: crié, criaste, crió.
Future
yo: criaré
The future tense of criar is completely regular: criaré, criarás, criará, criaremos, criaréis, criarán.
Conditional
yo: criaría
The conditional of criar is regular: criaría, criarías, criaría, criaríamos, criaríais, criarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: críe
The present subjunctive of criar requires an accent on the 'i' to maintain the hiatus: críe, críes, críe, criemos, criéis, críen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: criara
The imperfect subjunctive of criar is regular based on the preterite stem: criara, criaras, criara, criáramos, criarais, criaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cría
The affirmative imperative uses cría (tú) and críe (usted), maintaining the hiatus accent.
Negative Imperative
yo: no críes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms: no críes, no críe, no criemos, no criéis, no críen.