Enfrentarse Conjugation in Spanish

enfrentarse is the Spanish verb for «to face up to». As a regular -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 enfrento todos los días» — I face up to every day. Then work down the page tense by tense, and finish with the quiz.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: enfrentarse
  • English: to face up to
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: enfrentando
  • Past participle: enfrentado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + enfrentado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.

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

enfrentarse is reflexive: Me enfrento todos los días; te enfrentas 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 enfrentarse. 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: enfrentando · Past participle: enfrentado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrento
tú te enfrentas
él/ella/Ud. se enfrenta
nosotros/as nos enfrentamos
vosotros/as os enfrentáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrentan

The present is the tense you will use most with enfrentarse. It covers daily routines, permanent facts and actions in progress. Learn the yo form enfrento first, then the tú and él forms, which are the ones that change the stem in stem-changing verbs.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrenté
tú te enfrentaste
él/ella/Ud. se enfrentó
nosotros/as nos enfrentamos
vosotros/as os enfrentasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrentaron

The preterite of enfrentarse reports what happened. «Ayer yo enfrenté por la tarde» places the action firmly in finished time. It is the tense of stories and reports, not of background description.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrentaba
tú te enfrentabas
él/ella/Ud. se enfrentaba
nosotros/as nos enfrentábamos
vosotros/as os enfrentabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrentaban

The imperfect of enfrentarse paints the background of a past scene: repeated actions, states and descriptions. «Antes, yo enfrentaba todos los días» is the pattern. Pair it with the preterite when one event interrupts another.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrentaré
tú te enfrentarás
él/ella/Ud. se enfrentará
nosotros/as nos enfrentaremos
vosotros/as os enfrentaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrentarán

The future of enfrentarse looks forward: what will happen tomorrow, next week or next year. «Mañana yo enfrentaré sin falta» is the pattern. Remember that the future can also express probability about the present in Spanish.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrentaría
tú te enfrentarías
él/ella/Ud. se enfrentaría
nosotros/as nos enfrentaríamos
vosotros/as os enfrentaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrentarían

The conditional of enfrentarse is the tense of «would»: what you would do, what would happen, what you would like. «Si pudiera, yo enfrentaría sin dudarlo» shows the pattern. It is built on the infinitive, just like the future.

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect of enfrentarse says «have done»: the action is finished but its result still matters now. «Hoy yo he enfrentado dos veces» is the pattern. Learn the participle enfrentado well — every perfect tense depends on it.

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect of enfrentarse steps one event further back than the preterite. «Antes de salir, yo había enfrentado» is the pattern: first this happened, then the story moved on. It is haber in the imperfect plus enfrentado.

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect of enfrentarse combines the future of haber with enfrentado. «Para el viernes, yo habré enfrentado ya» is the pattern. Use it when the completion matters more than the action itself.

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect of enfrentarse is the tense of «would have done». «Yo habría enfrentado si hubiera podido» is the pattern. It is built from haber in the conditional plus enfrentado.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrente
tú te enfrentes
él/ella/Ud. se enfrente
nosotros/as nos enfrentemos
vosotros/as os enfrentéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrenten

The present subjunctive of enfrentarse is the mood of what is wished, doubted or demanded rather than stated as fact. «Espero que tú enfrentes» is the pattern. If the trigger is in the past, switch to the imperfect subjunctive instead.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me enfrentara
tú te enfrentaras
él/ella/Ud. se enfrentara
nosotros/as nos enfrentáramos
vosotros/as os enfrentarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrentaran

The imperfect subjunctive of enfrentarse handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo enfrentara más a menudo» is the pattern. The -ra forms in the table are the standard ones; the -se forms use the same stem with -se endings.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te enfrenta
él/ella/Ud. se enfrente
nosotros/as nos enfrentemos
vosotros/as os enfrentad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrenten

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.

The affirmative imperative of enfrentarse is for orders and instructions. «¡enfrenta, por favor!» is the pattern. Remember there is no yo form in the imperative, and the nosotros form doubles as a suggestion: «¡enfrentemos!» means «let's do it».

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te enfrentes
él/ella/Ud. se enfrente
nosotros/as nos enfrentemos
vosotros/as os enfrentéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se enfrenten

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.

The negative imperative of enfrentarse is built on the present subjunctive: «¡No enfrentes!». Learn it as a set with the subjunctive table above, and never follow no with the affirmative command form.

Example sentences

  1. Me enfrento todos los días. — I face up to every day.
  2. Ayer me enfrenté por la tarde. — Yesterday I faced up to in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me enfrentaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to face up to every day.
  4. Mañana me enfrentaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will face up to without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me enfrentaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would face up to right now.
  6. Hoy me he enfrentado dos veces. — Today I have faced up to twice.
  7. Espero que te enfrentes pronto. — I hope You face up to soon.
  8. Si me enfrentara, todo sería distinto. — If I faced up to, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy enfrentando. — Right now I am facing up to.
  10. ¡No te enfrentes! — Don't face up to!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo enfrento todos los días.

Right: me enfrento todos los días.

enfrentarse 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. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me enfrentaba.

Right: Ayer me enfrenté.

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

3. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te enfrentas.

Right: Espero que te enfrentes.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te enfrenta.

Right: No te enfrentes.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He enfrentando.

Right: He enfrentado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of enfrentarse in the present indicative?

- (a) enfrentan
- (b) enfrenta
- (c) enfrento
- (d) enfrentas

2. What is the yo form of enfrentarse in the preterite?

- (a) enfrentaste
- (b) enfrentamos
- (c) enfrentó
- (d) enfrenté

3. What is the tú form of enfrentarse in the imperfect?

- (a) enfrentaba
- (b) enfrentábamos
- (c) enfrentaba
- (d) enfrentabas

4. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of enfrentarse in the future?

- (a) enfrentarás
- (b) enfrentará
- (c) enfrentaremos
- (d) enfrentaré

5. What is the nosotros/as form of enfrentarse in the conditional?

- (a) enfrentaría
- (b) enfrentaríamos
- (c) enfrentarías
- (d) enfrentaría

6. What is the vosotros/as form of enfrentarse in the present perfect?

- (a) ha enfrentado
- (b) habéis enfrentado
- (c) has enfrentado
- (d) he enfrentado

7. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of enfrentarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) enfrentes
- (b) enfrente
- (c) enfrente
- (d) enfrenten

8. What is the yo form of enfrentarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) enfrentáramos
- (b) enfrentaras
- (c) enfrentara
- (d) enfrentara

9. What is the gerund of enfrentarse?

- (a) enfrentado
- (b) enfrentando
- (c) enfrento
- (d) enfrentarse

10. What is the past participle of enfrentarse?

- (a) enfrentado
- (b) enfrentando
- (c) enfrentarse
- (d) enfrenté

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of enfrentarse is enfrentan. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the yo form of enfrentarse is enfrenté. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (d) — In the imperfect, the tú form of enfrentarse is enfrentabas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the él/ella/Ud. form of enfrentarse is enfrentará. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the nosotros/as form of enfrentarse is enfrentaríamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (b) — In the present perfect, the vosotros/as form of enfrentarse is habéis enfrentado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (d) — In the present subjunctive, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of enfrentarse is enfrenten. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the yo form of enfrentarse is enfrentara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (b) — The gerund of enfrentarse is enfrentando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy enfrentando». 10. (a) — The past participle of enfrentarse is enfrentado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he enfrentado».

Frequently asked questions

Is enfrentarse regular or irregular?

Yes — enfrentarse is a regular -ar verb and reflexive. Learn the endings once and they work in every tense, with the stem enfrent unchanged throughout.

What are the gerund and past participle of enfrentarse?

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

How do I say «I face up to» in Spanish?

Say «Me enfrento 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 enfrentarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with enfrentarse?

Use the subjunctive after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions — for example «Espero que tú enfrentes». 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 enfrentarse mean?

The -se marks enfrentarse 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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