What is the Spanish verb “to grow”?
The most common Spanish verb for “to grow” is crecer. It is used for people, children, plants, animals, cities, economies and ideas: anything that gets bigger, older or more developed.
- Los niños crecen rápido. (Children grow fast.)
- La ciudad ha crecido mucho. (The city has grown a lot.)
Crecer is an -er verb with one irregularity: in the present tense, the yo form is crezco (I grow). Its past tenses are regular, so once you know the endings for -er verbs, the past tense of crecer is straightforward.
How do you say “grew” in Spanish?
Spanish has more than one past tense, and which one you pick depends on how you see the action. The two most common choices are the preterite and the imperfect.
Preterite of crecer: a completed change
Use the preterite when growth is seen as a finished event or a change that happened at a point in time.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | crecí | Crecí cinco centímetros ese año. (I grew five centimetres that year.) |
| tú | creciste | Creciste mucho en poco tiempo. (You grew a lot in a short time.) |
| él/ella/usted | creció | La empresa creció en 2020. (The company grew in 2020.) |
| nosotros/nosotras | crecimos | Crecimos juntos. (We grew up together.) |
| vosotros/vosotras | crecisteis | Crecisteis en un pueblo pequeño. (You all grew up in a small town.) |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | crecieron | Los precios crecieron. (Prices grew.) |
Notice that yo and él/ella/usted take accents (crecí, creció), as in all regular -er and -ir verbs.
Imperfect of crecer: ongoing or background growth
Use the imperfect for growth seen as a process, a habit or a description of a period of time.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | crecía | Yo crecía en el campo. (I was growing up in the countryside.) |
| tú | crecías | Tú crecías rápido. (You were growing fast.) |
| él/ella/usted | crecía | La población crecía cada año. (The population was growing each year.) |
| nosotros/nosotras | crecíamos | Crecíamos con pocos recursos. (We were growing up with few resources.) |
| vosotros/vosotras | crecíais | Crecíais sin parar. (You all kept on growing.) |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | crecían | Las plantas crecían bien. (The plants were growing well.) |
Preterite or imperfect?
A simple rule of thumb: if you can ask “when did it grow?” and give a specific moment, the preterite usually fits. If you are describing how things used to be or while something else happened, the imperfect usually fits.
- El niño creció mucho durante el verano. (The child grew a lot during the summer.) The preterite sums up the change.
- El niño crecía mientras estudiaba. (The child was growing while he studied.) The imperfect describes a process in the background.
Other past forms
| Tense | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | he crecido | He crecido mucho como persona. (I have grown a lot as a person.) |
| Pluperfect | había crecido | Había crecido en Chile. (He or she had grown up in Chile.) |
The past participle is crecido. Other tenses follow the regular -er pattern as well: future creceré, conditional crecería and past subjunctive creciera.
Present tense for reference
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | crezco |
| tú | creces |
| él/ella/usted | crece |
| nosotros/nosotras | crecemos |
| vosotros/vosotras | crecéis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | crecen |
The same -zco pattern is shared by many verbs ending in -cer, such as conocer (conozco), parecer (parezco) and agradecer (agradezco). See our overview of common irregular Spanish verbs for more verbs with unusual yo forms.
How do you say “grow up” in Spanish?
“To grow up” is usually translated with crecer itself, often with a place or time frame:
- Crecí en Madrid. (I grew up in Madrid.)
- Cuando crezcas, lo entenderás. (When you grow up, you will understand.)
Other options:
- criarse (to be raised, to grow up): Me crié en un pueblo pequeño. (I grew up in a small town.) This focuses on how you were raised.
- hacerse mayor (to get older, to grow up): Mis hijos se están haciendo mayores. (My children are getting older.)
- madurar (to mature): Ella ha madurado mucho. (She has matured a lot.)
How do you say “grow as a person” in Spanish?
The phrase is commonly translated as crecer como persona:
Viajar me ayudó a crecer como persona. (Travelling helped me grow as a person.)
You may also see desarrollarse como persona (to develop as a person) or evolucionar (to evolve), depending on the tone you want.
Other meanings of “grow” and the verbs to use
English “grow” has several meanings, and crecer does not cover all of them.
| Meaning | Spanish verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| To grow plants or crops | cultivar | Cultivamos tomates. (We grow tomatoes.) |
| To raise animals or children | criar | Mis abuelos criaban gallinas. (My grandparents raised chickens.) |
| To let hair or a beard grow | dejarse crecer or dejar crecer | Me dejé crecer la barba. (I grew a beard.) |
| To become (grow cold, grow tired) | ponerse or volverse | Se puso nervioso. (He got nervous.) |
For plants growing naturally, crecer works: Las flores crecen en primavera. (The flowers grow in spring.) For growing something deliberately, use cultivar.
Common mistakes
- Using crecer for “grow a plant”. Say cultivar if someone is planting and tending it.
- Forgetting the accents. Crecí and creció need accents; crecieron does not.
- Mixing up preterite and imperfect. If you are unsure, ask whether the growth is a completed event or a background process.
- Carrying over the -zco ending to the past. The preterite is crecí, not crezcí.
Quick practice
Choose the right past tense form.
- De niño, yo ___ en una granja. (imperfect or preterite: crecía or crecí)
- El año pasado, mi hermana ___ diez centímetros. (creció or crecía)
- Mis padres ___ en Argentina. (crecí or crecieron)
Answers: 1. crecía (or crecí, if you mean the period is complete), 2. creció, 3. crecieron.
If you enjoy comparing how different verbs conjugate, you may also like our guides to empezar and comer.
FAQ
What is the past tense of crecer? The preterite is crecí, creciste, creció, crecimos, crecisteis, crecieron and the imperfect is crecía, crecías, crecía, crecíamos, crecíais, crecían.
How do you say “I grew” in Spanish? Crecí for a completed change, crecía for ongoing growth.
Is crecer irregular? Only in the yo form of the present tense (crezco) and in the forms that come from it, such as the present subjunctive (crezca). The past tenses are regular.