criar Preterite Conjugation
criar — to raise
The preterite of criar is regular but requires accents on the 'i' and 'o' for the yo and él forms: crié, criaste, crió.
criar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you are talking about the completed process of raising someone or something, or a specific moment in that upbringing.
Notes on criar in the Preterite
Criar is technically regular in the preterite, but since it is a monosyllabic stem, the 'i' and 'e/o' merge into a diphthong. Note the accents on crié and crió.
Example Sentences
Mis abuelos criaron a cinco hijos.
My grandparents raised five children.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Yo me crié en un pueblo pequeño.
I grew up (raised myself) in a small town.
yo
Ella crió a sus hermanos sola.
She raised her siblings alone.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'crio' without an accent.
Correct: crió
Why: Without the accent, it could be confused with a monosyllable or mispronounced. The accent marks the past tense third person.
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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.
Imperfect
yo: criaba
The imperfect of criar is regular: criaba, criabas, criaba, criábamos, criabais, criaban.
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.