Encargar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of encargar — "to order, to entrust" 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 encargar 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. Encargar means to order or to entrust, and it covers ordering a cake for a birthday, entrusting work to an assistant, ordering a book and putting someone in charge of the children. It takes a for the person entrusted, and it is a spelling-change verb: the g becomes gu before e. To see it in a real sentence: Él encarga una tarta para el cumpleaños. — "He/she orders a cake for the birthday." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: encargar

Every person of encargar in the present tense. The gerund is encargando and the past participle is encargado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo encargo
tú encargas
él/ella/Ud. encarga
nosotros/as encargamos
vosotros/as encargáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. encargan

How the present indicative of encargar is formed

The present indicative of encargar is built from the stem encarg- plus the present 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 encargo
tú -as encargas
él/ella/Ud. -a encarga
nosotros/as -amos encargamos
vosotros/as -áis encargáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an encargan

encargar is a spelling-change verb: g becomes gu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form encargo in particular.

The gerund of encargar is encargando and the past participle is encargado. 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 encargar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and encargar 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.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For encargar, this use looks like this: "Yo encargo una tarta para el cumpleaños." — "I order a cake for the birthday." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For encargar, this use looks like this: "Él encarga el trabajo a su ayudante." — "He/she orders the work to his assistant." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For encargar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros encargamos un libro en la librería." — "We order a book at the bookshop." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For encargar, this use looks like this: "Ellos encargan a su hermana de los niños." — "They order his sister with the children." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For encargar, this use looks like this: "Tú encargas una tarta para el cumpleaños." — "You order a cake for the birthday." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with encargar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo encargo una tarta para el cumpleaños." — "I order a cake for the birthday."
  • Preterite: "Yo encargué una tarta para el cumpleaños." — "I ordered a cake for the birthday." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él encarga el trabajo a su ayudante." — "He/she orders the work to his assistant."
  • Preterite: "Él encargó el trabajo a su ayudante." — "He/she ordered the work to his assistant." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros encargamos un libro en la librería." — "We order a book at the bookshop."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros encargamos un libro en la librería." — "We ordered a book at the bookshop." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with encargar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo encargo una tarta para el cumpleaños. — I order a cake for the birthday.
  2. Tú encargas el trabajo a su ayudante. — You order the work to his assistant.
  3. Él encarga un libro en la librería. — He/she orders a book at the bookshop.
  4. Nosotros encargamos a su hermana de los niños. — We order his sister with the children.
  5. Vosotros encargáis una tarta para el cumpleaños. — You all order a cake for the birthday.
  6. Ellos encargan el trabajo a su ayudante. — They order the work to his assistant.
  7. Yo encargo un libro en la librería. — I order a book at the bookshop.
  8. Él encarga a su hermana de los niños. — He/she orders his sister with the children.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros encargais el trabajo a su ayudante. — Right: Vosotros encargáis el trabajo a su ayudante. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: encargáis, not encargais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo encargo un libro en la librería. — Right: Ayer, yo encargué un libro en la librería. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (encargué), not the present (encargo). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo encarga una tarta para el cumpleaños. — Right: Yo encargo una tarta para el cumpleaños. — The person matters: encarga is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is encargo.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy encargado el trabajo a su ayudante. — Right: Yo he encargado el trabajo a su ayudante. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he encargado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of encargar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ una tarta para el cumpleaños. (present tense) A. encargo B. encargas C. encarga D. encargamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el trabajo a su ayudante. (present tense) A. encargas B. encargo C. encarga D. encargamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ un libro en la librería. (present tense) A. encarga B. encargo C. encargas D. encargamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ a su hermana de los niños. (present tense) A. encargamos B. encargo C. encargas D. encarga

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ una tarta para el cumpleaños. (present tense) A. encargáis B. encargo C. encargas D. encarga

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ el trabajo a su ayudante. (present tense) A. encargan B. encargo C. encargas D. encarga

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ un libro en la librería. (present tense) A. encargo B. encargas C. encarga D. encargamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a su hermana de los niños. (present tense) A. encarga B. encargo C. encargas D. encargamos

Answer key

  1. encargo — The yo present form of encargar is encargo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. encargas — The tu present form of encargar is encargas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. encarga — The el present form of encargar is encarga. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. encargamos — The nosotros present form of encargar is encargamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. encargáis — The vosotros present form of encargar is encargáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. encargan — The ellos present form of encargar is encargan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. encargo — The yo present form of encargar is encargo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. encarga — The el present form of encargar is encarga. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of encargar?

Use the present tense of encargar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo encargo una tarta para el cumpleaños. — "I order a cake for the birthday." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of encargar formed?

Take the stem encarg- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: g becomes gu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of encargar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo encargo el trabajo a su ayudante. with Yo encargué el trabajo a su ayudante. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of encargar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the encargar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Encargar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

Related links