Encontrar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Encontrar In Spanish

Encontrar is an -AR verb with O to UE stem changes. Since this verb can help you practice this pattern, in this guide, we’ll go over encontrar conjugation charts. Here is what we’ll cover:

Overview of Encontrar

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-AR
IrregularNo
InfinitiveEncontrar
Gerund (Present Participle) FormEncontrando
Past Participle FormEncontrado
SynonymsHallar, localizar.

Stem Changes: O to UE

  • Present indicative: encuentr for all subjects except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’.
  • Present subjunctive: encuentr for all subjects except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’.
  • Negative and affirmative imperative: encuentr for all subjects except ‘vosotros’.

Indicative Conjugations of Encontrar

Present tense

Encontrar conjugations for the present tense have an O to UE stem change. This change is not applied to ‘nosotros’ or ‘vosotros’. Use encontrar in the present tense to talk about what people currently find. For instance: No encuentro mis llaves.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncuentroI find
EncuentrasYou find
Él / Ella
Usted
EncuentraHe/She finds
You (formal) find
NosotrosEncontramosWe find
VosotrosEncontráisYou find
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncuentranThey find
You (plural) find

Preterite tense

Encontrar preterite conjugations are regular. Conjugate encontrar to this tense to express that someone found something or point out the exact moment something was found. For example: Ya encontramos la cartera de Tom.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncontréI found
EncontrasteYou found
Él / Ella
Usted
EncontróHe/She found
You (formal) found
NosotrosEncontramosWe found
VosotrosEncontrasteisYou found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncontraronThey found
You (plural) found

Imperfect tense

Use encontrar’s past imperfect tense conjugations to refer to things or people you used to find in the past. You can also use these forms if it’s unclear when something or someone was found. Susana nunca encontraba sus calcetines. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncontrabaI found
I used to find
EncontrabasYou found
You used to find
Él / Ella
Usted
EncontrabaHe/She found
He/She used to find

You (formal) found
You (formal) used to find
NosotrosEncontrábamosWe found
We used to find
VosotrosEncontrabaisYou found
You used to find
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncontrabanThey found
They used to find

You (plural) found
You (plural) used to find

Near future

The Spanish immediate future is formed with ir a + infinitive (in this case, ‘encontrar’). We use this tense to talk about what people are going to find soon in the future. For example: Ya no vamos a encontrar más galletas.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a encontrarI’m going to find
Vas a encontrarYou’re going to find
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a encontrarHe/She is going to find
You (formal) are going to find
NosotrosVamos a encontrarWe’re going to find
VosotrosVais a encontrarYou’re going to find
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a encontrarThey’re going to find
You (plural) are going to find

Future simple tense

When conjugated to the future tense, encontrar communicates that someone will find something or another person at some point in the future. Siempre te encontraré. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncontraréI will find
EncontrarásYou will find
Él / Ella
Usted
EncontraráHe/She will find
You (formal) will find
NosotrosEncontraremosWe will find
VosotrosEncontraréisYou (formal) will find
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncontraránThey will find
You (plural) will find

Conditional tense

Conjugate encontrar to the conditional tense to talk about what people would find if some conditions were met. You can also use these conjugations to hypothesize what you or someone else would find. For example: Creí que nunca te encontraría. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncontraríaI would find
EncontraríasYou would find
Él / Ella
Usted
EncontraríaHe/She would find
You (formal) would find
NosotrosEncontraríamosWe would find
VosotrosEncontraríaisYou would find
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncontraríanThey would find
You (plural) would find

Present perfect tense

The Spanish present perfect of ‘encontrar’ is conjugated with the formula haber in the present tense + encontrado (past participle). In the present perfect tense, this verb refers to the things someone has or hasn’t found. No hemos encontrado a Diana. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe encontradoI have found
Has encontradoYou have found
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha encontradoHe/She has found
You (formal) have found
NosotrosHemos encontradoWe have found
VosotrosHabéis encontradoYou have found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han encontradoThey have found
You (plural) have found

Past perfect

The Spanish past perfect of encontrar is used to talk about what someone had found before some other reference point in the past. Me dijiste que ya las habías encontrado. To form the past perfect, use the imperfect conjugations of ‘haber’ and the past participle form of ‘encontrar’.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía encontradoI had found
Habías encontradoYou had found
Él / Ella
Usted
Había encontradoHe/She had found
You (formal) had found
NosotrosHabíamos encontradoWe had found
VosotrosHabíais encontradoYou had found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían encontradoThey had found
You (plural) had found

Future perfect

We use the future perfect tense of ‘encontrar’ to express that someone will have found something or someone by or before a certain moment in the future. You can also use this tense to talk about what someone might have found. 

For example: ¿Crees que Josh habrá encontrado su cartera?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré encontradoI will have found
Habrás encontradoYou will have found
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá encontradoHe/She will have found
You (formal) will have found
NosotrosHabremos encontradoWe will have found
VosotrosHabréis encontradoYou will have found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán encontradoThey will have found
You (plural) will have found

Conditional perfect

Conjugate encontrar to the Spanish conditional perfect tense to communicate that someone would have found something or someone as long as a past condition had been met. These conjugations are also used to make hypotheses about what someone found in the past. 

For instance: No habría encontrado mi celular sin tu ayuda. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría encontradoI would have found
Habrías encontradoYou would have found
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría encontradoHe/She would have found
You (formal) would have found
NosotrosHabríamos encontradoWe would have found
VosotrosHabríais encontradoYou would have found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían encontradoThey would have found
You (plural) would have found

Progressive tenses

Use the progressive tenses of encontrar to talk about what someone is finding at the moment of speaking. Creo que están encontrado más información. The progressive tenses are formed with estar (conjugated) + present participle (encontrando, in this case). 

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + encontrandoI am finding
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + encontrandoYou were finding
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + encontrandoHe was finding
FutureEstar (future) + encontrandoWe will be finding
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + encontrandoThey would be finding

Encontrar Subjunctive Conjugations

The Spanish subjunctive mood refers to wishes, requests, suggestions, expectations, doubts, or hypothetical situations. Below are the encontrar conjugation charts for the most common subjunctive tenses. 

Present subjunctive

Encontrar subjunctive conjugations have an O to UE stem change for all subjects except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. We use these conjugations to request or wish that someone finds or doesn’t find something. For instance: Ojalá no encuentren nada. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncuentreI find
EncuentresYou find
Él / Ella
Usted
EncuentreHe/She finds
You (formal) find
NosotrosEncontremosWe find
VosotrosEncontréisYou find
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncuentrenThey find
You (plural) find

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber in the present subjunctive + encontrado is the formula we use to conjugate encontrar to the present perfect subjunctive. Use this tense to wonder or wish that someone has already found something. Espero que hayan encontrado mis llaves.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya encontradoI have found
Hayas encontradoYou have found
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya encontradoHe/She has found
You (formal) have found
NosotrosHayamos encontradoWe have found
VosotrosHayáis encontradoYou have found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan encontradoThey have found
You (plural) have found

Imperfect subjunctive

When conjugated to the imperfect subjunctive, encontrar refers to past requests, suggestions, and wishes you had about someone finding something. For example: Me hubiera gustado que encontraran a mi perro

These are two types of conjugations for the imperfect subjuntive. Using one or the other depends on the type of Spanish you use:

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncontraraI found
EncontrarasYou found
Él / Ella
Usted
EncontraraHe/She found
You (formal) found
NosotrosEncontráramosWe found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncontraranThey found
You (plural) found

Note:  In Latin American Spanish, the pronoun vosotros is not used. As a result, this pronoun has been excluded from this encontrar conjugation chart.

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoEncontraseI found
EncontrasesYou found
Él / Ella
Usted
EncontraseHe/She found
You (formal) found
NosotrosEncontrásemosWe found
VosotrosEncontraseisYou found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
EncontrasenThey found
You (plural) found

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, encontrar expresses that someone would have found something if a past circumstance was met. Additionally, these conjugations also refer to regrets or hypothetical outcomes if you had found something or someone. 

For instance: Si hubiera encontrado mis llaves, no habría llamado al cerrajero.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera encontradoI had found
Hubieras encontradoYou had found
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera encontradoHe/She had found
You (formal) had found
NosotrosHubiéramos encontradoWe had found
VosotrosHubierais encontradoYou had found
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran encontradoThey had found
You (plural) had found

Encontrar Imperative Conjugations

In Spanish, we use the imperative conjugations to give orders to people.

Affirmative commands

If you want to order someone to find something, you must use the affirmative imperative. Encontrar affirmative commands use the stem changing root encuentr for all subjects except ‘vosotros’. Here is an example: Vayan y encuentren mi dinero. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
EncuentraFind
UstedEncuentreFind
VosotrosEncontradFind
UstedesEncuentrenFind

Negative commands

Check the encontrar conjugation chart below. To form negative commands, you must use the stem encuentr for all subjects except ‘vosotros’. Sentences that use encontrar’s negative imperative are uncommon because you cannot command people not to find something.

PersonConjugationTranslation
No encuentresDon’t find
UstedNo encuentreDon’t find
VosotrosNo encontréisDon’t find
UstedesNo encuentrenDon’t find

Meanings of Encontrar & Examples

Since you already learned how to conjugate encontrar, here are some examples of how to use this verb correctly. 

  1. Talking about finding or discovering things

(Direct object pronoun) + [encontrar conjugated] + (noun)

¿La encontraste?
Did you find her? 

Ojalá pronto encuentres tus cosas. 
I hope you find your things soon. 

Take Note: When the context is clear, you can replace the thing or person you find with a Spanish direct object pronoun

  1. As a synonym of ‘coming across’ or ‘bumping into’

[Reflexive pronoun] + [encontrar conjugated] + a + [noun]

Ayer me encontré a Carmen. 
Yesterday, I bumped into Carmen. 

Tú siempre te encuentras dinero en la calle. 
You always come across money in the street. 

Download Encontrar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

Click the button below to download the cheat sheets PDF I’ve assembled with all of the encontrar conjugation charts, meanings, and uses so you can study them at your own pace.

Practice Quiz: Encontrar Conjugation

Practice your conjugation skills for ‘encontrar’ by taking our verb conjugation practice quiz, where you can choose any combination of tenses you’d like to focus on.

Daniela Sanchez

¡Hola! Soy Daniela Sanchez, I've been studying Spanish professionally as well as teaching it in Mexico and online for over 10 years. I’ve taught Spanish to a wide array of foreigners from many backgrounds. Over the years, I've made it my mission to work hard on refining many challenging to understand grammar topics to make my students' learning experiences easier, faster and more enjoyable. Read More About Me

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