Encantar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of encantar — "to love, to delight in" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for encantar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Encantar means "to love" or "to delight in" — but it does not work like an English verb. In Spanish, the thing you love is the subject and you are the indirect object: me encanta el cine means "I love the cinema", word for word "the cinema delights me". The verb agrees with the thing loved: me encanta el libro (singular) but me encantan los libros (plural). This gustar-like pattern is the single most important thing about encantar, and it is why learners must study the third-person forms most: encanta and encantan do almost all the work. To see it in a real sentence: Me encanta el cine español. — "I love Spanish cinema.".
Present tense conjugation table: encantar
Every person of encantar in the present tense. The gerund is encantando and the past participle is encantado.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encanto |
| tú | encantas |
| él/ella/Ud. | encanta |
| nosotros/as | encantamos |
| vosotros/as | encantáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encantan |
How the present indicative of encantar is formed
The present indicative of encantar is built from the stem encant- plus the present indicative endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.
| Person | Ending | Form |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | encanto |
| tú | -as | encantas |
| él/ella/Ud. | -a | encanta |
| nosotros/as | -amos | encantamos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | encantáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -an | encantan |
encantar is a regular -ar verb in form, but it is used in a special pattern. The stem is encant- and the endings are the normal -ar endings, so the table above is completely regular. The special part is the meaning: encantar works like gustar, so the thing you love, that interests you or that bores you is the subject of the sentence, and you are the indirect object — me, te, le, nos, os, les. In practice that means the third-person forms do almost all the work: encanta for one thing and encantan for several things. The first and second person forms in the table exist, but you will rarely need them in this pattern.
The gerund of encantar is encantando and the past participle is encantado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.
When to use the present tense of encantar
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and encantar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.
Loving a singular thing
With a singular thing, use the él form: me encanta el libro.
"Me encanta el cine español." — "I love Spanish cinema."
Loving plural things
With plural things, use the ellos form: me encantan los libros.
"Me encantan los libros de historia." — "I love history books."
Loving an activity
With an infinitive, use the singular form: me encanta viajar.
"Me encanta viajar en tren." — "I love travelling by train."
Someone else loving something
Change the pronoun, not the verb pattern: le encanta, nos encanta, les encanta.
"A mi madre le encanta la música clásica." — "My mother loves classical music."
Asking what someone loves
Questions use the same pattern: ¿te encanta…?
"¿Te encanta el chocolate?" — "Do you love chocolate?"
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: Me encanta la paella. — "I love paella."
- Preterite — one finished occasion: Me encantó la paella. — the same idea, placed in the preterite.
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add "used to" in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: Me encantan las playas de España. — "I love the beaches of Spain."
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: Me encantaban las playas de España. — the same idea, placed in the imperfect.
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: Te encanta el fútbol. — "You love football."
- Future — what will happen: Te encantará el fútbol. — the same idea, placed in the future.
Examples: encantar in the present tense
Seven sentences that show encantar in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Me encanta la paella. — "I love paella."
- Me encantan las playas de España. — "I love the beaches of Spain."
- Te encanta el fútbol. — "You love football."
- Te encantan las películas de terror. — "You love horror films."
- Le encanta cocinar. — "He loves cooking."
- Nos encantan los domingos en familia. — "We love Sundays with the family."
- Les encanta el arte moderno. — "They love modern art."
Common mistakes with encantar in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with encantar in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ *Yo encanto el cine español (treating encantar like a normal verb).
✓ Correct: Me encanta el cine español.
Encantar is gustar-like: the thing loved is the subject. Say me encanta el cine, never yo encanto el cine.
✗ *Me encanta los libros de historia (singular verb with a plural thing).
✓ Correct: Me encantan los libros de historia.
The verb agrees with the thing loved: los libros is plural, so the verb is encantan.
✗ *Me encantan viajar en tren (plural verb with an infinitive).
✓ Correct: Me encanta viajar en tren.
With an infinitive, always use the singular: me encanta viajar, me encanta cocinar.
✗ *A mi madre encanta la música clásica (missing the pronoun le).
✓ Correct: A mi madre le encanta la música clásica.
The pattern needs the indirect object pronoun: a mi madre le encanta. The a-phrase alone is not enough.
Quiz: encantar in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of encantar. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
1. Which is the correct present tense form of encantar for tú?
- a) encanta
- b) encantan
- c) encantas
- d) encanto
2. Complete the sentence: Me ______ la paella. — "I love paella."
- a) encantan
- b) encanto
- c) encantó
- d) encanta
3. Complete the sentence: Me ______ los libros de historia. — "I love history books."
- a) encanta
- b) encantamos
- c) encantaron
- d) encantan
4. Which is the correct present tense form of encantar for nosotros?
- a) encantan
- b) encantas
- c) encanto
- d) encantamos
5. Which sentence uses encantar correctly in the present tense?
- a) Te encantas el fútbol.
- b) Yo encanto el cine español.
- c) Te encantó el fútbol.
- d) Te encanta el fútbol.
6. Which sentence is correct? The books are plural, so the verb must agree with them.
- a) Yo encanto los libros de historia.
- b) Me encanta los libro de historia.
- c) Me encantan los libros de historia.
- d) Me encanta los libros de historia.
7. Complete the sentence: A mi madre le ______ la música clásica. — "My mother loves classical music."
- a) encanto
- b) encantó
- c) encantan
- d) encanta
8. What is the gerund of encantar?
- a) encanto
- b) encantando
- c) encantado
- d) encantamos
Answer key
c) encantas — The tú form is encantas. The -s ending belongs to tú in the present; encanto is yo, encanta is él/ella and encantan is ellos/ellas.
d) encanta — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: encanta. The other options are the wrong person or the wrong tense.
d) encantan — The subject is ellos/ellas/Uds., so the present form is encantan.
d) encantamos — Nosotros takes encantamos. In the present the nosotros ending for -ar verbs is -amos, attached to the stem encant-.
d) Te encanta el fútbol. — Te encanta el fútbol. is correct: the verb agrees with its subject. The other sentences use the wrong person or the wrong tense.
c) Me encantan los libros de historia. — Los libros is plural, so the verb must be the ellos form: me encantan los libros. The singular form is only for one thing, and yo encanto treats the verb as if you were the subject, which is wrong for this pattern.
d) encanta — The subject is él/ella/Ud., so the present form is encanta.
b) encantando — The gerund is encantando. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive (estar + gerund), and it is not the past participle encantado.
Frequently asked questions
Is encantar regular in the present tense?
In form, yes — encantar is a regular -ar verb. In use, it is special: it works like gustar, so the thing you love, that interests you or that bores you is the subject, and you are the indirect object (me, te, le). The third-person forms encanta and encantan do almost all the work.
What is the gerund and the past participle of encantar?
The gerund is encantando and the past participle is encantado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say "I to love, to delight in" in Spanish?
Say encanto. For example: Me encanta la paella. — "I love paella.".
What is the difference between encantar and gustar?
encantar means "to love, to delight in", while gustar means "to like". They are related words that learners often meet together, but they are not interchangeable — use encantar when you mean "to love, to delight in" and gustar when you mean "to like". The full conjugation of gustar is on its own page.
Related links
- Full conjugation of encantar — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- encantar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.