crucial
adjectiveCEFR B2
What does “crucial” mean in English?
crucial — of decisive importance; pivotal
crucial — of decisive importance; pivotal (es crucial que + subjunctive; un papel crucial; un momento crucial)
Example sentences
Es crucial que los líderes políticos lleguen a un acuerdo antes de que finalice el plazo establecido por el organismo internacional.
It is crucial that political leaders reach an agreement before the deadline set by the international body expires.
La comunicación interna juega un papel crucial en el éxito de cualquier proceso de cambio organizacional.
Internal communication plays a crucial role in the success of any organisational change process.
Fue un momento crucial para la negociación: si no se llegaba a un acuerdo esa tarde, el proceso se habría roto.
It was a crucial moment for the negotiation: if an agreement was not reached that afternoon, the process would have broken down.
How to use it
Crucial means 'crucial' — of decisive importance, pivotal. Takes ser. It is a stronger evaluator than importante and similar in weight to fundamental or decisivo. Key collocations: un momento crucial (a crucial moment), un factor crucial (a crucial factor), el papel crucial (the crucial role), es crucial que + subjunctive (it is crucial that...). The construction es crucial que + subjunctive is a key B2 pattern for expressing necessity.
Common mistake
Crucial, fundamental, and decisivo all express high importance but with different emphases: crucial implies a turning point where things can go very wrong; fundamental suggests a foundational basis; decisivo implies determining the outcome. For 'it is crucial that...', es crucial que + subjunctive is correct — the que-clause requires subjunctive because it expresses necessity, not a fact.