Alcanzar Conjugation in Spanish
Introduction
alcanzar means "to reach, to achieve" in English, and it is one of the verbs you will meet constantly in everyday Spanish — for reaching a place, a goal or a level. Learning it properly means more than memorising one form: the verb changes across thirteen tenses, and this page gives you every one of them, with the exact forms from the VerbFlow engine, so you can check any person or tense in seconds. Alcanzar is a irregular -ar verb; z → c spelling change before e verb, and it is regular in its endings, with a spelling change. That matters because the patterns on this page are the patterns you will reuse every time you speak or write. Work through the tables first, then read the notes under each tense — they explain when to use each tense and what to watch out for with this verb in particular. A natural example is: Cada día, yo alcanzo la cima de la montaña. — "Every day, I reach the top of the mountain." Once you can say that sentence confidently, try changing the person and the tense using the tables below.
Quick facts
| Infinitive | alcanzar |
| Translation | to reach, to achieve |
| Verb type | Irregular -ar verb; z → c spelling change before e |
| Gerund | alcanzando |
| Past participle | alcanzado |
| Auxiliary | haber (all compound tenses) |
| Irregular tenses | regular in its endings, with a spelling change |
Full conjugation of alcanzar
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcanzo |
| tú | alcanzas |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcanza |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcanzamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzáis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcanzan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcancé |
| tú | alcanzaste |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcanzó |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcanzamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzasteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcanzaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcanzaba |
| tú | alcanzabas |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcanzaba |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcanzábamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzabais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcanzaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcanzaré |
| tú | alcanzarás |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcanzará |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcanzaremos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzaréis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcanzarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcanzaría |
| tú | alcanzarías |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcanzaría |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcanzaríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzaríais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcanzarían |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcance |
| tú | alcances |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcance |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcancemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcancéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcancen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | alcanzara |
| tú | alcanzaras |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcanzara |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcanzáramos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzarais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcanzaran |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he alcanzado |
| tú | has alcanzado |
| él / ella / Ud. | ha alcanzado |
| nosotros / nosotras | hemos alcanzado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habéis alcanzado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | han alcanzado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había alcanzado |
| tú | habías alcanzado |
| él / ella / Ud. | había alcanzado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habíamos alcanzado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habíais alcanzado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habían alcanzado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré alcanzado |
| tú | habrás alcanzado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habrá alcanzado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habremos alcanzado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habréis alcanzado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrán alcanzado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría alcanzado |
| tú | habrías alcanzado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habría alcanzado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habríamos alcanzado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habríais alcanzado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrían alcanzado |
Imperative — affirmative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | alcanza |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcance |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcancemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcanzad |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcancen |
Imperative — negative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | alcances |
| él / ella / Ud. | alcance |
| nosotros / nosotras | alcancemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | alcancéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | alcancen |
Gerund: alcanzando · Past participle: alcanzado
Alcanzar in every tense — notes and examples
Present indicative
The present is the tense for habits, facts and what is happening now. It is the first tense to master, because the present subjunctive and the affirmative imperative are both built from the present yo form. Example: Cada día, yo alcanzo la cima de la montaña. — "Every day, I reach the top of the mountain."
Preterite
The preterite is for completed actions in the past — things that started and finished at a definite moment. Use it for a single event, a sequence of events, or an action with a clear end. Watch the spelling in the preterite: z becomes c before e, so the yo form is alcancé. Example: Ayer, yo alcancé la cima de la montaña. — "Yesterday, I reached the top of the mountain."
Imperfect
The imperfect is for the past without a definite end: habits, background scenes, descriptions and actions in progress when something else happened. It never states when the action finished. Example: Antes, yo alcanzaba la cima de la montaña. — "Before, I reached the top of the mountain."
Future
The future is for what will happen, and also for guesses about the present ("I wonder if…"). For regular verbs it is the infinitive plus the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Example: Mañana, yo alcanzaré la cima de la montaña. — "Tomorrow, I will reach the top of the mountain."
Conditional
The conditional is for what would happen — polite requests, hypothetical results and reported expectations. It shares its stem with the future, so any irregular future stem appears here too. Example: Yo alcanzaría la cima de la montaña si tuviera la oportunidad. — "I would reach the top of the mountain if I had the chance."
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is for wishes, doubts, emotions and other non-facts after que, and after expressions such as ojalá, es importante que or no creo que. It is not a tense for stating facts. Example: Espero que ella alcance la cima de la montaña. — "I hope she will reach the top of the mountain."
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms) is for wishes and doubts about the past, and for the if-part of hypothetical sentences (si + imperfect subjunctive, conditional). This page shows the -ra forms from the engine. Example: Si ella alcanzara la cima de la montaña, todo cambiaría. — "If she reached the top of the mountain, everything would change."
Present perfect
The present perfect (haber + past participle) is for past actions connected to the present — recent events, experience, or something that has just happened. The auxiliary is always haber. Example: Yo he alcanzado mis metas este año varias veces. — "I have reached my goals this year several times."
Pluperfect
The pluperfect (había + past participle) is the past of the past: something that had already happened before another past event. Example: Yo había alcanzado la cima de la montaña antes de la reunión. — "I had reached the top of the mountain before the meeting."
Future perfect
The future perfect (habré + past participle) is for something that will already be finished by a future moment, or for a guess about the past. It is less common in speech than the simple future. Example: Para mañana, yo habré alcanzado la cima de la montaña. — "By tomorrow, I will have reached the top of the mountain."
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect (habría + past participle) is for what would have happened — the past of the conditional, used for regrets and unreal past conditions. Example: Yo habría alcanzado la cima de la montaña si hubiera tenido tiempo. — "I would have reached the top of the mountain if I had had time."
Imperative — affirmative
The affirmative imperative is for direct orders, instructions and invitations. The tú form comes from the present él/ella form, and the formal, nosotros and plural forms come from the present subjunctive. Example: ¡alcanza la cima de la montaña! — "Reach the top of the mountain!"
Imperative — negative
The negative imperative (no + subjunctive) is for telling someone not to do something. All five persons come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different from the affirmative tú form. Example: No alcances la cima de la montaña. — "Do not reach the top of the mountain."
Example sentences with alcanzar
Yo alcanzo la cima de la montaña. — "I reach the top of the mountain."
¿Tú alcanzas mis metas este año? — "Do you reach my goals this year?"
Ayer, él alcanzó la cima de la montaña. — "Yesterday, he reached the top of the mountain."
Nosotros alcanzamos mis metas este año a tiempo. — "We reached my goals this year on time."
Antes, ellos alcanzaban la cima de la montaña. — "Before, they reached the top of the mountain."
Mañana, yo alcanzaré mis metas este año. — "Tomorrow, I will reach my goals this year."
Nosotros alcanzaríamos la cima de la montaña si pudiéramos. — "We would reach the top of the mountain if we could."
Yo he alcanzado mis metas este año varias veces. — "I have reached my goals this year several times."
Espero que ella alcance la cima de la montaña. — "I hope she will reach the top of the mountain."
Ahora mismo, yo estoy alcanzando mis metas este año. — "Right now, I am reaching my goals this year."
Common mistakes with alcanzar
1. Writing ✗ alzancé instead of the correct preterite form
The correct preterite yo form is alcancé: the spelling changes before e (g → gu, c → qu, z → c) so the sound stays the same. Writing it with the infinitive spelling is a spelling mistake, even though it sounds identical.
2. Confusing alcanzar with obtener (to obtain)
alcanzar means "to reach, to achieve", while obtener means "to obtain". They overlap in English but they are not interchangeable in Spanish: use alcanzar when you mean reaching a place, a goal or a level, and obtener for its own meaning. Check the conjugation of obtener before choosing.
3. Mixing up the preterite and the imperfect
Ayer yo alcancé la cima de la montaña (preterite: one finished event yesterday) is not the same as antes yo alcanzaba la cima de la montaña (imperfect: what used to happen). If you can add "yesterday" or "last week", you usually want the preterite; if you can add "used to", you want the imperfect.
4. Using estar instead of haber in the perfect tenses
The present perfect is he alcanzado (haber + participle), never estoy alcanzado. Haber is the only auxiliary for compound tenses in Spanish.
5. Using the infinitive after a conjugated verb without a connector
When alcanzar is followed by another verb, check whether Spanish needs que or a preposition between them. A bare infinitive after a conjugated alcanzar is a common English-speaker error — say the full construction you have practised on this page.
Quiz: alcanzar
1. Yo ___ la cima de la montaña.
a. alcanza b. alcanzo c. alcanzan
2. Ella ___ la cima de la montaña.
a. alcanzo b. alcanza c. alcanzan
3. Ayer, yo ___ la cima de la montaña.
a. alcanzo b. alcancé c. alcanza
4. Ellos ___ la cima de la montaña ayer.
a. alcanzo b. alcanzaron c. alcanza
5. Antes, yo ___ la cima de la montaña.
a. alcanzo b. alcanzaba c. alcanza
6. Mañana, yo ___ la cima de la montaña.
a. alcanzo b. alcanzaré c. alcanza
7. Yo ___ la cima de la montaña si pudiera.
a. alcanzo b. alcanzaría c. alcanza
8. Espero que ella ___ la cima de la montaña.
a. alcanzo b. alcance c. alcanza
9. Ahora mismo, yo estoy ___ mis metas este año.
a. alcanzado b. alcanzando c. alcanzo
10. Yo he ___ mis metas este año varias veces.
a. alcanzando b. alcanzado c. alcanzo
Answer key
alcanzo — present tense, yo form.
alcanza — present tense, él/ella form.
alcancé — preterite, yo form — a finished action yesterday.
alcanzaron — preterite, ellos/ellas form.
alcanzaba — imperfect, yo form — a past habit.
alcanzaré — future, yo form.
alcanzaría — conditional, yo form — a hypothetical.
alcance — present subjunctive after 'espero que'.
alcanzando — gerund — the progressive is estar + gerund.
alcanzado — past participle — the present perfect is haber + participle.
Frequently asked questions about alcanzar
What does alcanzar mean in English?
Alcanzar means "to reach, to achieve". It is used for reaching a place, a goal or a level. A simple example is yo alcanzo la cima de la montaña — "I reach the top of the mountain."
Is alcanzar regular or irregular?
Alcanzar is a irregular -ar verb; z → c spelling change before e verb, and it is regular in its endings, with a spelling change. The forms that most often catch learners out are the present yo form alcanzo, the preterite yo form alcancé and the past participle alcanzado — learn those three first, then fill in the rest from the tables above.
What is the gerund and the past participle of alcanzar?
The gerund is alcanzando (used for the progressive: estoy alcanzando) and the past participle is alcanzado (used with haber in all perfect tenses: he alcanzado). Both forms are used constantly, so they are worth memorising on their own.
How do I say "I reach" in the past?
It depends on the meaning. For one finished action use the preterite: ayer yo alcancé la cima de la montaña — "yesterday I reached the top of the mountain". For a past habit or background use the imperfect: antes yo alcanzaba la cima de la montaña — "before, I reached the top of the mountain". The mistake most learners make is using one for the other.
Does alcanzar take the subjunctive?
Not usually. Alcanzar on its own takes the indicative — yo alcanzo la cima de la montaña. You will meet the subjunctive with alcanzar only inside a larger construction that itself triggers it, such as no creo que or es importante que, and then the subjunctive form is alcance.