Encargarse Conjugation in Spanish

encargarse is the Spanish verb for «to take charge of». As a spelling-changing -ar verb, reflexive verb it follows the -ar endings, and the tables on this page list every form so you never have to guess. You will find the present, the past tenses, the future, the conditional, the perfect tenses, the subjunctive and the imperative, each with a short note on when to use it. Start with the present tense: «Me encargo todos los días» — I take charge of every day. Then work down the page tense by tense, and finish with the quiz.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: encargarse
  • English: to take charge of
  • Verb type: spelling-changing -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: encargando
  • Past participle: encargado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + encargado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.
  • Spelling change: in the preterite the yo form is encargué, not encargé, so the stem-final letter changes before e and i.
  • Spelling change: in the present subjunctive the yo form is encargue, not encarge, so the stem-final letter changes before e and i.

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for encargarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

encargarse is reflexive: Me encargo todos los días; te encargas todos los días. Without the pronoun, the verb means doing the action to someone else rather than to yourself, so keep the pronoun with the form.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for encargarse. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Gerund: encargando · Past participle: encargado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargo
tú te encargas
él/ella/Ud. se encarga
nosotros/as nos encargamos
vosotros/as os encargáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encargan

Use the present of encargarse for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form encargo is the anchor of the table: the other persons follow the regular -ar endings from it. When you talk about yourself right now, this is the form you need.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargué
tú te encargaste
él/ella/Ud. se encargó
nosotros/as nos encargamos
vosotros/as os encargasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encargaron

Use the preterite of encargarse for a single finished event: something that happened once and is over. The yo form is encargué. If you can put a finished time expression with it — ayer, la semana pasada, anoche — the preterite is usually right.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargaba
tú te encargabas
él/ella/Ud. se encargaba
nosotros/as nos encargábamos
vosotros/as os encargabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encargaban

Use the imperfect of encargarse for what used to happen and for what was going on when something else happened. The yo form is encargaba. If the action has no clear beginning or end in the story, the imperfect is the right choice.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargaré
tú te encargarás
él/ella/Ud. se encargará
nosotros/as nos encargaremos
vosotros/as os encargaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encargarán

Use the future of encargarse for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is encargaré, built on the infinitive plus the future endings. For a firm plan, the future sounds more formal than ir a + infinitive; for a casual plan, either works.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargaría
tú te encargarías
él/ella/Ud. se encargaría
nosotros/as nos encargaríamos
vosotros/as os encargaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encargarían

Use the conditional of encargarse for hypothetical situations and for softening requests. The yo form is encargaría. It appears after si-clauses with the imperfect subjunctive and on its own for polite suggestions.

Present Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he encargado
tú te has encargado
él/ella/Ud. se ha encargado
nosotros/as nos hemos encargado
vosotros/as os habéis encargado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han encargado

Use the present perfect of encargarse for recent events with present relevance. The yo form is he encargado — haber in the present plus encargado. Time expressions like hoy, esta semana and últimamente are its natural partners.

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había encargado
tú te habías encargado
él/ella/Ud. se había encargado
nosotros/as nos habíamos encargado
vosotros/as os habíais encargado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían encargado

Use the pluperfect of encargarse when you need two layers of past: one event already finished before another past event began. The yo form is había encargado. It is the tense of «had already done».

Future Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré encargado
tú te habrás encargado
él/ella/Ud. se habrá encargado
nosotros/as nos habremos encargado
vosotros/as os habréis encargado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán encargado

Use the future perfect of encargarse to say that something will be finished by a future moment. The yo form is habré encargado. It pairs naturally with deadlines: para mañana, para el viernes, para entonces.

Conditional Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría encargado
tú te habrías encargado
él/ella/Ud. se habría encargado
nosotros/as nos habríamos encargado
vosotros/as os habríais encargado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían encargado

Use the conditional perfect of encargarse for the past that did not happen: what would have been done with more time or a different choice. The yo form is habría encargado. It follows si-clauses with the pluperfect subjunctive.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargue
tú te encargues
él/ella/Ud. se encargue
nosotros/as nos encarguemos
vosotros/as os encarguéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encarguen

Use the present subjunctive of encargarse when the main clause expresses a wish, a doubt, an emotion or an impersonal judgement. The yo form is encargue. After espero que, ojalá que and no creo que, the subjunctive is required, not optional.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me encargara
tú te encargaras
él/ella/Ud. se encargara
nosotros/as nos encargáramos
vosotros/as os encargarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encargaran

Use the imperfect subjunctive of encargarse after past-tense wishes and doubts, and in si-clauses that set up a hypothetical present. The yo form is encargara. It is built on the third-person plural preterite stem, which is why it looks different from the present subjunctive.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te encarga
él/ella/Ud. se encargue
nosotros/as nos encarguemos
vosotros/as os encargad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encarguen

There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

Use the affirmative imperative of encargarse to tell someone to do something: instructions, invitations and requests. The tú form is encarga. For a polite command, use the usted form encargue instead of the tú form.

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te encargues
él/ella/Ud. se encargue
nosotros/as nos encarguemos
vosotros/as os encarguéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se encarguen

There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

Use the negative imperative of encargarse to forbid or to warn: «¡No encargues!». The tú form is encargues, taken from the present subjunctive. The word no always comes first, and the form never changes for emphasis.

Example sentences

  1. Me encargo todos los días. — I take charge of every day.
  2. Ayer me encargué por la tarde. — Yesterday I took charge of in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me encargaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to take charge of every day.
  4. Mañana me encargaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will take charge of without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me encargaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would take charge of right now.
  6. Hoy me he encargado dos veces. — Today I have took charge of twice.
  7. Espero que te encargues pronto. — I hope You take charge of soon.
  8. Si me encargara, todo sería distinto. — If I took charge of, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy encargando. — Right now I am taking charge of.
  10. ¡No te encargues! — Don't take charge of!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo encargo todos los días.

Right: me encargo todos los días.

encargarse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Missing the spelling change in the preterite

Wrong: Yo encargé.

Right: Yo encargué.

The spelling changes so the pronunciation stays the same: the yo form in the preterite is encargué, not encargé. The endings are regular — only the spelling of the stem-final letter adjusts before e and i.

3. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me encargaba.

Right: Ayer me encargué.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, encargué. The imperfect encargaba describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te encargas.

Right: Espero que te encargues.

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: encargues, not the indicative encargas. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.

5. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te encarga.

Right: No te encargues.

Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no encargues. The affirmative encarga can never follow no.

6. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He encargando.

Right: He encargado.

The perfect tenses use haber plus the past participle: he encargado. The gerund encargando goes with estar for actions in progress («Estoy encargando»), never with haber.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the tú form of encargarse in the present indicative?

- (a) encarga
- (b) encargas
- (c) encargo
- (d) encargamos

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of encargarse in the preterite?

- (a) encargaste
- (b) encargué
- (c) encargó
- (d) encargamos

3. What is the nosotros/as form of encargarse in the imperfect?

- (a) encargábamos
- (b) encargaba
- (c) encargaba
- (d) encargabas

4. What is the vosotros/as form of encargarse in the future?

- (a) encargaré
- (b) encargaréis
- (c) encargará
- (d) encargarás

5. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of encargarse in the conditional?

- (a) encargarías
- (b) encargaría
- (c) encargaría
- (d) encargarían

6. What is the yo form of encargarse in the present perfect?

- (a) hemos encargado
- (b) he encargado
- (c) ha encargado
- (d) has encargado

7. What is the tú form of encargarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) encarguemos
- (b) encargue
- (c) encargue
- (d) encargues

8. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of encargarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) encargaras
- (b) encargáramos
- (c) encargara
- (d) encargara

9. What is the gerund of encargarse?

- (a) encargo
- (b) encargarse
- (c) encargando
- (d) encargado

10. What is the past participle of encargarse?

- (a) encargado
- (b) encargué
- (c) encargarse
- (d) encargando

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the tú form of encargarse is encargas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of encargarse is encargó. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the nosotros/as form of encargarse is encargábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of encargarse is encargaréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (d) — In the conditional, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of encargarse is encargarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (b) — In the present perfect, the yo form of encargarse is he encargado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (d) — In the present subjunctive, the tú form of encargarse is encargues. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the él/ella/Ud. form of encargarse is encargara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (c) — The gerund of encargarse is encargando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy encargando». 10. (a) — The past participle of encargarse is encargado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he encargado».

Frequently asked questions

Is encargarse regular or irregular?

Mostly yes — encargarse takes the regular -ar endings, but the spelling of the stem changes in some forms (for example the yo preterite encargué). The endings never change; only the stem-final letter adjusts so the pronunciation stays the same.

What are the gerund and past participle of encargarse?

The gerund is encargando and the past participle is encargado. Use the gerund with estar for actions in progress («Estoy encargando») and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses («he encargado»).

How do I say «I take charge of» in Spanish?

Say «Me encargo todos los días». That is the yo form of the present tense, the form you need for talking about yourself right now.

What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect of encargarse?

Use the preterite (encargué) for a single finished event and the imperfect (encargaba) for habits and background. «Ayer yo encargué» reports something that happened and ended; «Antes, yo encargaba» describes what used to happen.

When do I use the subjunctive with encargarse?

Use the subjunctive after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions — for example «Espero que tú encargues». The trigger sits in the main clause; once it is there, the subjunctive form is required, not a stylistic choice.

What does the -se in encargarse mean?

The -se marks encargarse as reflexive: the action comes back to the subject. You always pair the form with its pronoun — me, te, se, nos, os, se — placed before the conjugated verb. Dropping the pronoun changes the meaning, so treat the pronoun as part of the verb.

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