Creure means “to believe” or, before a clause, often “to think.” Its apparent irregularity is economical: learn the principal parts crec – creiem – creguí – creuré – cregui – cregut and nearly every form follows. The cregu- family supplies the simple past, present and imperfect subjunctive, and most commands; creur- supplies the future and conditional. Unlike English, Catalan also makes a systematic syntactic distinction among creure algú, creure en algú and pronominal creure's una cosa.
The paradigm below follows the contemporary Central Catalan baseline and the forms recorded by the IEC. Creure is not defective and never takes the third-conjugation incoative extension -eix-.
Nonfinite forms
| Form | Catalan | English guide |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | creure | to believe |
| Perfect infinitive | haver cregut | to have believed |
| Gerund | creient | believing |
| Perfect gerund | havent cregut | having believed |
| Participle | cregut; creguda, creguts, cregudes | believed |
The gerund is creient, not creguent. Compound tenses use haver plus invariable cregut: les versions que hem cregut. When the participle is adjectival, agreement returns, though adjectival cregut is less frequent than the verbal form.
Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | crec | creus | creu | creiem | creieu | creuen |
| Imperfect | creia | creies | creia | crèiem | crèieu | creien |
| Periphrastic past | vaig creure | vas creure | va creure | vam creure | vau creure | van creure |
| Simple past | creguí | cregueres | cregué | creguérem | creguéreu | cregueren |
| Future | creuré | creuràs | creurà | creurem | creureu | creuran |
| Conditional | creuria | creuries | creuria | creuríem | creuríeu | creurien |
Only first-person singular crec exposes the velar consonant in the present indicative. The plural stem crei- explains creiem/creieu and the gerund creient. Written accents in crèiem/crèieu mark both stress and vowel quality; creiem without an accent is the present “we believe,” whereas crèiem is “we believed/used to believe.” Creu can also be the noun “cross,” and creus its plural, but syntax normally removes the ambiguity.
Crec que la reunió acabarà abans de les sis, però no n'estic segur.
I think the meeting will finish before six, but I'm not sure.
De petits crèiem que aquell túnel arribava fins al mar.
As children, we believed that tunnel went all the way to the sea.
Al principi no me la vaig creure, però després em va ensenyar els missatges.
At first I didn't believe her story, but then she showed me the messages.
The periphrastic past is neutral in conversation. The synthetic past is productive in the standard language but is more (formal/literary) in much Central Catalan; its vitality varies regionally.
Compound tenses and subjunctive
| Indicative tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | he cregut | has cregut | ha cregut | hem cregut | heu cregut | han cregut |
| Pluperfect | havia cregut | havies cregut | havia cregut | havíem cregut | havíeu cregut | havien cregut |
| Past anterior | haguí cregut | hagueres cregut | hagué cregut | haguérem cregut | haguéreu cregut | hagueren cregut |
| Future perfect | hauré cregut | hauràs cregut | haurà cregut | haurem cregut | haureu cregut | hauran cregut |
| Conditional perfect | hauria cregut | hauries cregut | hauria cregut | hauríem cregut | hauríeu cregut | haurien cregut |
| Subjunctive tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | cregui | creguis | cregui | creguem | cregueu | creguin |
| Imperfect | cregués | creguessis | cregués | creguéssim | creguéssiu | creguessin |
| Present perfect | hagi cregut | hagis cregut | hagi cregut | hàgim cregut | hàgiu cregut | hagin cregut |
| Pluperfect | hagués cregut | haguessis cregut | hagués cregut | haguéssim cregut | haguéssiu cregut | haguessin cregut |
The subjunctive keeps cregu- throughout. The u in gu is orthographic: it preserves the hard consonant before e/i and is not pronounced as a separate vowel. (Regional: Valencian) standard present forms are crega, cregues, crega, creguem, cregueu, creguen; the imperfect in -ra (creguera, cregueres...) is also standard and common. Balearic, Northwestern and Northern usage largely share the displayed velar family, with regional alternatives in the subjunctive. These are parallel standards, not errors.
No em puc creure que hagis recordat aquella conversa després de tants anys.
I can't believe you've remembered that conversation after so many years.
Si haguéssim cregut l'avís, hauríem sortit de la muntanya abans.
If we had believed the warning, we would have left the mountain earlier.
The remaining periphrastic rows complete the finite reference; the two subjunctive rows are (regional/formal) and uncommon in ordinary Central conversation.
| Periphrastic tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative past anterior | vaig haver cregut | vas haver cregut | va haver cregut | vam haver cregut | vau haver cregut | van haver cregut |
| Subjunctive past | vagi creure | vagis creure | vagi creure | vàgim creure | vàgiu creure | vagin creure |
| Subjunctive past anterior | vagi haver cregut | vagis haver cregut | vagi haver cregut | vàgim haver cregut | vàgiu haver cregut | vagin haver cregut |
Imperative and clitics
| Addressee | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | creu | no creguis |
| vostè | cregui | no cregui |
| nosaltres | creguem | no creguem |
| vosaltres | creieu | no cregueu |
| vostès | creguin | no creguin |
Affirmative commands attach weak pronouns: creu-me, creieu-vos-ho. Negative commands put them before the verb: no em creguis, no us ho cregueu. The contrast between affirmative creieu and negative no cregueu follows the indicative-versus-subjunctive split explained on the imperative page.
Creu-me: és millor parlar-ne avui que ajornar-ho una altra setmana.
Believe me: it's better to talk about it today than postpone it for another week.
No us ho cregueu només perquè ho diu un vídeo viral.
Don't believe it just because a viral video says so.
What is believed: direct object, en, and creure's
Use creure algú for accepting what a person says: No et crec. There is no general personal a. Use creure en algú o alguna cosa for faith, trust, existence, or confidence in a project. With propositional content, use creure que; unlike English, Catalan often translates tentative “I think...” as crec que....
Et crec, però encara hem de comprovar les dates del contracte.
I believe you, but we still have to check the dates in the contract.
La directora creu en l'equip i ens dona marge per decidir.
The director believes in the team and gives us room to decide.
Pronominal creure's foregrounds accepting something as true and is especially frequent with a proposition represented by ho: m'ho crec. It can also target a person as a source or persona: No me'l crec. The pronoun is not decorative in idioms such as creure's superior or creure's el melic del món. Causative fer creure means “make/lead someone to believe”: Em van fer creure que era urgent.
S'ho creu tot: ahir li van fer creure que el concert s'havia cancel·lat.
He believes everything: yesterday they made him believe the concert had been cancelled.
Common Mistakes
❌ Crec en que demà plourà tota la tarda.
Incorrect—propositional content takes creure que, without en.
✅ Crec que demà plourà tota la tarda.
I think it will rain all afternoon tomorrow.
❌ No crec a la Marta quan explica aquesta història.
Incorrect for believing a person's words—the person is a direct object, not an a-complement.
✅ No crec la Marta quan explica aquesta història.
I don't believe Marta when she tells this story.
❌ Volen que creiem la primera versió sense proves.
Incorrect if the intended form is present subjunctive; the velar stem is required.
✅ Volen que creguem la primera versió sense proves.
They want us to believe the first version without evidence.
❌ Hem creït que l'entrada era gratuïta.
Incorrect—the participle is cregut, not creït.
✅ Hem cregut que l'entrada era gratuïta.
We believed admission was free.
❌ No crec que es considera superior als altres.
Incorrect—the pronominal expression is creure's superior, and a negated judgment licenses the subjunctive.
✅ No crec que es cregui superior als altres.
I don't think he considers himself superior to everyone else.
Key Takeaways
Anchor the paradigm in crec, creiem, creguí, creuré, cregui, and cregut. Keep cregu- in the subjunctive and most commands, distinguish present creiem from imperfect crèiem, and choose syntax by meaning: creure algú, creure en algú, creure que..., or pronominal creure's una cosa.
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