Encontrar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

encontrar — to find — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -ar verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to find and to meet someone, and it is completely regular: encontro, encontras, encontra, encontramos, encontrais, encontram. Its pretérito perfeito is encontrei, encontraste, encontrou, and its participle is encontrado. It is the verb for finding what you were looking for. On this page you will find encontrar in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the encontrar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the encontrar present tense page.

Example sentences with encontrar

In the present tense

  • “Eu encontro a Maria todos os dias.” — “I find Maria”
  • “Tu encontras a Maria todos os dias.” — “You find Maria”
  • “Ele encontra a Maria todos os dias.” — “He finds Maria”
  • “Nós encontramos a Maria todos os dias.” — “We find Maria”
  • “Vós encontrais a Maria todos os dias.” — “You find Maria”
  • “Eles encontram a Maria todos os dias.” — “They find Maria”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu encontrei a Maria ontem.” — “I found Maria”
  • “Tu encontraste a Maria ontem.” — “You found Maria”
  • “Ele encontrou a Maria ontem.” — “He found Maria”
  • “Nós encontrámos a Maria ontem.” — “We found Maria”
  • “Vós encontrastes a Maria ontem.” — “You found Maria”
  • “Eles encontraram a Maria ontem.” — “They found Maria”

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Eu encontrava a Maria antigamente.” — “I used to find Maria”
  • “Tu encontrarás a Maria amanhã.” — “You will find Maria”
  • “Ele encontraria a Maria um dia.” — “He would find Maria”
  • “É importante que nós encontremos a Maria.” — “It is important that we find Maria”
  • “Encontra a Maria!” — “Find Maria!”

How encontrar is used

The first thing to know about encontrar is its core meaning: to find. It means to find and to meet someone, and it is completely regular: encontro, encontras, encontra, encontramos, encontrais, encontram. Its pretérito perfeito is encontrei, encontraste, encontrou, and its participle is encontrado. It is the verb for finding what you were looking for. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company encontrar keeps. The present eu form is encontro, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho encontrado, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what encontrar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need encontro, never encontrar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho encontrado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle encontrado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Encontrar in context

Eu encontro a Maria todos os dias. Tu encontras a Maria todos os dias. Ele encontra a Maria todos os dias. Nós encontramos a Maria todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of encontrar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — encontro, encontras, encontra, encontramos — while the meaning stays the same: to find. Eu encontrei a Maria ontem. Tu encontraste a Maria ontem. Ele encontrou a Maria ontem. Nós encontrámos a Maria ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of encontrar appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to find — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu encontrar a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu encontro a Maria todos os dias.”

The infinitive encontrar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form encontro.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu encontras a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu encontro a Maria todos os dias.”

encontras is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is encontro — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu encontro a Maria ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu encontrei a Maria ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito encontrei here, not the present encontro.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou encontrado a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho encontrado a Maria esta semana.”

encontrar takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho encontrado — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on encontrar across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of encontrar in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) encontro
    • B) encontras
    • C) encontra
    • D) encontramos

  2. What is the eu form of encontrar in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens encontrado
    • B) tem encontrado
    • C) tenho encontrado
    • D) temos encontrado

  3. What is the ele/ela form of encontrar in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) encontravas
    • B) encontrávamos
    • C) encontráveis
    • D) encontrava

  4. What is the nós form of encontrar in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) encontraremos
    • B) encontrarei
    • C) encontrarás
    • D) encontrará

  5. What is the tu form of encontrar in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) encontraria
    • B) encontrarias
    • C) encontraríamos
    • D) encontraríeis

  6. What is the eu form of encontrar in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) encontraras
    • B) encontráramos
    • C) encontrara
    • D) encontráreis

  7. What is the nós form of encontrar in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) encontre
    • B) encontres
    • C) encontreis
    • D) encontremos

  8. What is the gerund of encontrar?

    • A) encontrando
    • B) encontrado
    • C) encontrar
    • D) encontro

  9. What is the past participle of encontrar?

    • A) encontrando
    • B) encontrado
    • C) encontrar
    • D) encontro

  10. What does encontrar mean in English?

  • A) to ask for
  • B) to receive
  • C) to find
  • D) to pay

Answer key

  1. B) encontras — the correct form is encontras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho encontrado — the correct form is tenho encontrado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) encontrava — the correct form is encontrava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) encontraremos — the correct form is encontraremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) encontrarias — the correct form is encontrarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) encontrara — the correct form is encontrara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) encontremos — the correct form is encontremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) encontrando — the correct form is encontrando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) encontrado — the correct form is encontrado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to find — the correct form is to find. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does encontrar mean in English?

encontrar means “to find”. You use it whenever you talk about to find in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is encontrar regular or irregular?

encontrar is regular. encontrar is regular: every form follows the standard -ar endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of encontrar?

The gerund is encontrando and the past participle is encontrado. The perfect tenses use ter + encontrado.

Where can I see the full conjugation of encontrar?

On the encontrar conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The encontrar present tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

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

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