The Imperfect Tense of creer is used to describe beliefs or opinions you held in the past, or recurring or ongoing actions in the past. For example, Yo creía que el mundo era plano. (I used to believe that the world was flat.)

Creer is a regular -er verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the regular pattern for that verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Creer (to believe) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The imperfect tense of creer is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, as well as descriptions and states of being.

Belief or opinion: For example, Yo creía que era una buena idea. (I thought it was a good idea.) This usage expresses a past belief or opinion that may or may not still be held.

Habitual or repeated action: For example, De niño, creía en Santa Claus. (As a child, I used to believe in Santa Claus.) This usage describes a habitual action or state in the past.

Description: For example, Creía que era un buen estudiante. (I thought I was a good student.) This usage describes a past state or characteristic.

Idiomatic usage: ¡No te creas! (Don’t believe it! / You must be kidding!) This idiomatic expression expresses disbelief or skepticism.

Examples

Examples of Creer in the Imperfect Tense

Yo creía que el museo abría a las 10 de la mañana. (I thought the museum opened at 10 in the morning.)

Ellos creían que la película era aburrida, pero al final les gustó. (They thought the movie was boring, but in the end they liked it.)

Nosotros creíamos que la cena estaba incluida en el precio del hotel. (We thought dinner was included in the hotel price.)

Tú creías que ibas a aprobar el examen, ¿verdad? (You thought you were going to pass the exam, right?)

Vosotros creíais que el concierto era gratis, pero tuvisteis que pagar la entrada. (You thought the concert was free, but you had to pay for the tickets.)

Ella creía que su novio le iba a proponer matrimonio en la cena romántica. (She thought her boyfriend was going to propose marriage at the romantic dinner.)

Ustedes creían que el vuelo salía a las 3 pm, pero en realidad salía a las 5 pm. (You thought the flight was leaving at 3 pm, but it was actually leaving at 5 pm.)

Yo creía que mi amigo iba a venir a la fiesta, pero al final no pudo. (I thought my friend was going to come to the party, but in the end he couldn’t make it.)

Ellas creían que el restaurante estaba abierto los domingos, pero resultó que estaba cerrado. (They thought the restaurant was open on Sundays, but it turned out to be closed.)

Tú creías que tu equipo iba a ganar el partido, ¿no? (You thought your team was going to win the game, didn’t you?)

Vosotros creíais que la película de terror era muy asustadora, ¿verdad? (You thought the horror movie was really scary, right?)

Él creía que su jefe le iba a dar un aumento de sueldo. (He thought his boss was going to give him a raise.)

Nosotros creíamos que el concierto iba a durar dos horas, pero duró tres. (We thought the concert was going to last two hours, but it lasted three.)

Ustedes creían que la comida estaba rica, ¿o no? (You thought the food was good, didn’t you?)

Yo creía que mi hermana iba a venir a visitarme, pero al final no pudo. (I thought my sister was going to come visit me, but in the end she couldn’t.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Creer (to believe) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

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

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.