The preterite of creer is used to express the moment when you believed something in the past. For example, you might say “I believed him when he told me the story,” indicating the specific point when belief occurred.

This is an e to y stem-changing verb, which means the ‘e’ changes to ‘y’ in the third person singular and plural forms of the preterite tense. This creates an irregular pattern in these specific conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Creer (to believe) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of creer indicates a specific instance of believing or trusting in the past.

To believe something: Refers to accepting something as true at a specific moment, for example Le creí cuando me explicó lo que pasó (I believed him when he explained what happened).

To trust someone: Used when placing trust in someone, for example Nunca creyó en sus mentiras (She never believed his lies).

Examples

Examples of Creer in the Preterite (Past) Tense

No creí lo que me dijeron. (I didn’t believe what they told me.)

¿Creíste su historia? (Did you believe his story?)

Ella creyó en sus sueños. (She believed in her dreams.)

Nunca creímos que sería posible. (We never believed it would be possible.)

Los científicos creyeron en sus hallazgos. (The scientists believed in their findings.)

¿Por qué no me creíste? (Why didn’t you believe me?)

Nadie creyó en el proyecto al principio. (Nobody believed in the project at first.)

Creí que llegarías tarde. (I believed you would arrive late.)

Todos creyeron en sus palabras. (Everyone believed in his words.)

Creímos en la posibilidad de cambio. (We believed in the possibility of change.)

El equipo creyó en su potencial. (The team believed in their potential.)

¿Creíste en las noticias? (Did you believe the news?)

Nunca creí que pasaría esto. (I never believed this would happen.)

Los estudiantes creyeron en sí mismos. (The students believed in themselves.)

Creímos en la importancia del proyecto. (We believed in the importance of the project.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Creer (to believe) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.