Encontrar Conjugation in Spanish
encontrar means “find” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 24 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for finding lost things, for meeting people by chance, and for finding a place. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of encontrar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo todos los días.” — “I find the keys in my pocket every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: encontrar
- English: to find
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (o → ue)
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: encontrando
- Past participle: encontrado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for encontrar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encuentro |
| tú | encuentras |
| él/ella/Ud. | encuentra |
| nosotros/as | encontramos |
| vosotros/as | encontráis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encuentran |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encontré |
| tú | encontraste |
| él/ella/Ud. | encontró |
| nosotros/as | encontramos |
| vosotros/as | encontrasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encontraron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encontraba |
| tú | encontrabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | encontraba |
| nosotros/as | encontrábamos |
| vosotros/as | encontrabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encontraban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encontraré |
| tú | encontrarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | encontrará |
| nosotros/as | encontraremos |
| vosotros/as | encontraréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encontrarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encontraría |
| tú | encontrarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | encontraría |
| nosotros/as | encontraríamos |
| vosotros/as | encontraríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encontrarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he encontrado |
| tú | has encontrado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha encontrado |
| nosotros/as | hemos encontrado |
| vosotros/as | habéis encontrado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han encontrado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había encontrado |
| tú | habías encontrado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había encontrado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos encontrado |
| vosotros/as | habíais encontrado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían encontrado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré encontrado |
| tú | habrás encontrado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá encontrado |
| nosotros/as | habremos encontrado |
| vosotros/as | habréis encontrado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán encontrado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría encontrado |
| tú | habrías encontrado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría encontrado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos encontrado |
| vosotros/as | habríais encontrado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían encontrado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encuentre |
| tú | encuentres |
| él/ella/Ud. | encuentre |
| nosotros/as | encontremos |
| vosotros/as | encontréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encuentren |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | encontrara |
| tú | encontraras |
| él/ella/Ud. | encontrara |
| nosotros/as | encontráramos |
| vosotros/as | encontrarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encontraran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | encuentra |
| él/ella/Ud. | encuentre |
| nosotros/as | encontremos |
| vosotros/as | encontrad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encuentren |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | encuentres |
| él/ella/Ud. | encuentre |
| nosotros/as | encontremos |
| vosotros/as | encontréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | encuentren |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | encontrando |
| Past participle | encontrado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With encontrar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo todos los días.” — “I find the keys in my pocket every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú encontraste a María en el parque ayer.” — “You found María in the park yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él encontraba un buen restaurante aquí antes.” — “He used to find a good restaurant here before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo encontraré las llaves en el bolsillo mañana.” — “I will find the keys in my pocket tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú encontrarías a María en el parque algún día.” — “You would find María in the park someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha encontrado un buen restaurante aquí esta semana.” — “He has found a good restaurant here this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había encontrado las llaves en el bolsillo antes de la fiesta.” — “I had found the keys in my pocket before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás encontrado a María en el parque para mañana.” — “You will have found María in the park by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría encontrado un buen restaurante aquí ayer.” — “He would have found a good restaurant here yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With encontrar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo encuentre las llaves en el bolsillo.” — “It is important that i find the keys in my pocket.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú encontraras a María en el parque.” — “I wish you found María in the park.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With encontrar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Encuentra un buen restaurante aquí!” — “Find a good restaurant here!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With encontrar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No encuentres las llaves en el bolsillo.” — “Do not find the keys in my pocket.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with encontrar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo todos los días.” — “I find the keys in my pocket every day.”
- “Tú encontraste a María en el parque ayer.” — “You found María in the park yesterday.”
- “Él encontraba un buen restaurante aquí antes.” — “He used to find a good restaurant here before.”
- “Yo encontraré a María en el parque mañana.” — “I will find María in the park tomorrow.”
- “Tú encontrarías las llaves en el bolsillo algún día.” — “You would find the keys in my pocket someday.”
- “Él ha encontrado un buen restaurante aquí esta semana.” — “He has found a good restaurant here this week.”
- “Yo había encontrado las llaves en el bolsillo antes de la fiesta.” — “I had found the keys in my pocket before the party.”
- “Tú habrás encontrado a María en el parque para mañana.” — “You will have found María in the park by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él encuentre un buen restaurante aquí.” — “It is important that he find a good restaurant here.”
- “¡Encuentra las llaves en el bolsillo!” — “Find the keys in my pocket!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo encontrar las llaves en el bolsillo.”
✓ Right: “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo.”
The infinitive encontrar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form encuentro.
2. Confusing encontrar with buscar
✗ Wrong: “Yo busco las llaves en el bolsillo.”
✓ Right: “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo.”
Encontrar is to find; buscar is to look for.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy encontrado las llaves en el bolsillo.”
✓ Right: “Yo he encontrado las llaves en el bolsillo.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle encontrado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “encontre”
✓ Right: “encontré”
The accent on encontré is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the o → ue stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo encontro las llaves en el bolsillo.”
✓ Right: “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo.”
encontrar changes its stem vowel in the present tense (o → ue), so the yo form is encuentro, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo encontré las llaves en el bolsillo antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo encontraba las llaves en el bolsillo antes.”
The preterite encontré describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect encontraba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on encontrar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of encontrar in the Present indicative?
- A) encuentras
- B) encuentra
- C) encontramos
- D) encuentro
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of encontrar in the Preterite?
- A) encontraste
- B) encontramos
- C) encontró
- D) encontré
What is the nosotros/as form of encontrar in the Imperfect?
- A) encontrabais
- B) encontrábamos
- C) encontraba
- D) encontrabas
What is the tú form of encontrar in the Future?
- A) encontrarás
- B) encontraré
- C) encontrará
- D) encontraremos
What is the yo form of encontrar in the Conditional?
- A) encontrarías
- B) encontraríamos
- C) encontraríais
- D) encontraría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of encontrar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) encontremos
- B) encontréis
- C) encuentre
- D) encuentres
What is the yo form of encontrar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) encontrarais
- B) encontrara
- C) encontraras
- D) encontráramos
What is the gerund of encontrar?
- A) encontrando
- B) siguiendo
- C) llamando
- D) viniendo
What is the past participle of encontrar?
- A) seguido
- B) llamado
- C) venido
- D) encontrado
What does encontrar mean in English?
- A) to call
- B) to come
- C) to find
- D) to follow
Answer key
- D) encuentro — the yo form of encontrar in the present indicative is encuentro. The other options (encuentras, encuentra, encontramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) encontró — the él/ella/Ud. form of encontrar in the preterite is encontró. The other options (encontré, encontraste, encontramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) encontrábamos — the nosotros/as form of encontrar in the imperfect is encontrábamos. The other options (encontraba, encontrabas, encontraba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) encontrarás — the tú form of encontrar in the future is encontrarás. The other options (encontraré, encontrará, encontraremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) encontraría — the yo form of encontrar in the conditional is encontraría. The other options (encontrarías, encontraría, encontraríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) encuentre — the él/ella/Ud. form of encontrar in the present subjunctive is encuentre. The other options (encuentre, encuentres, encontremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) encontrara — the yo form of encontrar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is encontrara. The other options (encontraras, encontrara, encontráramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) encontrando — the gerund of encontrar is encontrando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) encontrado — the past participle of encontrar is encontrado; perfect tenses use haber + encontrado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to find — encontrar means “to find” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does encontrar mean in English?
encontrar means “to find”. You use it for finding lost things, for meeting people by chance, and for finding a place. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is encontrar regular or irregular?
encontrar is irregular — stem-changing (o → ue), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is encontrando and the past participle is encontrado.
What are the gerund and past participle of encontrar?
The gerund is encontrando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is encontrado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he encontrado (I have found).
What is the difference between encontrar and buscar?
Encontrar is to find; buscar is to look for. If you are unsure, check the full table for buscar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I find” in Spanish?
Say “Yo encuentro las llaves en el bolsillo.” — “I find the keys in my pocket every day.” The yo form of the present is encuentro, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- encontrar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- encontrar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Seguir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Llamar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Venir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise encontrar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise encontrar with the interactive tool.
- Subjunctive Helper — practise encontrar with the interactive tool.