Spanish Verb Encontrar Conjugation

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Dr. Jocelly Meiners has taught language courses at the University of Texas at Austin since 2008. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics and an M.A. in French linguistics.

Updated on January 30, 2020

The Spanish verb encontrar is a cognate of the English verb to encounter. Although it can also mean to encounter, encontrar more commonly means to find. However, it can also be translated as to come across or to discover. When used reflexively, encontrarse means to meet up with someone, to run into someone by chance, to find something by chance, or to find oneself.

An interesting detail about this verb is that from encontrar we get the noun encuentro, which is an encounter, get-together, gathering, conference, or even a match between two teams.

The verb encontrar is an "o" to "ue" stem-changing verb. This means that when the o is found in a stressed syllable, it changes to ue. For example, the first person present indicative conjugation is yo encuentro (I find). There are other stem changing verbs that are conjugated using a similar pattern, such as sonar, probar, and contar.

This article includes encontrar conjugations in the present, past, conditional, and future indicative mood, the present and past subjunctive mood, the imperative mood, and other verb forms. As you study these conjugations, be mindful of the stem-changing forms.

Present Indicative

Notice that the stem change "o" to "ue" is found in all of the present indicative conjugations except for nosotros and vosotros.

Yo encuentro Yo encuentro paz en la meditación. I find peace in meditation.
Tú encuentras Tú encuentras dinero en la calle. You find money on the street.
Usted/él/ella encuentra Ella encuentra las llaves perdidas. She finds the lost keys.
Nosotros encontramos Nosotros encontramos al niño en el parque. We find the boy in the park.
Vosotros encontráis Vosotros encontráis la casa con el mapa. You find the house with the map.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas encuentran Ellos encuentran algo que comer en la refrigeradora. They find something to eat in the fridge.

Preterite Indicative

There are no stem changes in the preterite tense. The preterit can be translated as the simple past "found."

Yo encontré Yo encontré paz en la meditación. I found peace in meditation.
Tú encontraste Tú encontraste dinero en la calle. You found money on the street.
Usted/él/ella encontró Ella encontró las llaves perdidas. She found the lost keys.
Nosotros encontramos Nosotros encontramos al niño en el parque. We found the boy in the park.
Vosotros encontrasteis Vosotros encontrasteis la casa con el mapa. You found the house with the map.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas encontraron Ellos encontraron algo que comer en la refrigeradora. They found something to eat in the fridge.

Imperfect Indicative

There are no stem changes in the imperfect tense either. The imperfect can be translated as "was finding" or "used to find."

Yo encontraba Yo encontraba paz en la meditación. I used to find peace in meditation.
Tú encontrabas Tú encontrabas dinero en la calle. You used to find money on the street.
Usted/él/ella encontraba Ella encontraba las llaves perdidas. She used to find the lost keys.
Nosotros encontrábamos Nosotros encontrábamos al niño en el parque. We used to find the boy in the park.
Vosotros encontrabais Vosotros encontrabais la casa con el mapa. You used to find the house with the map.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas encontraban Ellos encontraban algo que comer en la refrigeradora. They used to find something to eat in the fridge.

Future Indicative

The future tense uses the infinitive form as the stem, so there are no stem changes in this verb tense.

Yo encontraré Yo encontraré paz en la meditación. I will find peace in meditation.
Tú encontrarás Tú encontrarás dinero en la calle. You will find money on the street.
Usted/él/ella encontrará Ella encontrará las llaves perdidas. She will find the lost keys.
Nosotros encontraremos Nosotros encontraremos al niño en el parque. We will find the boy in the park.
Vosotros encontraréis Vosotros encontraréis la casa con el mapa. You will find the house with the map.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas encontrarán Ellos encontrarán algo que comer en la refrigeradora. They will find something to eat in the fridge.

Periphrastic Future Indicative

Yo voy a encontrar Yo voy a encontrar paz en la meditación. I am going to find peace in meditation.
Tú vas a encontrar Tú vas a encontrar dinero en la calle. You are going to find money on the street.
Usted/él/ella va a encontrar Ella va a encontrar las llaves perdidas. She is going to find the lost keys.
Nosotros vamos a encontrar Nosotros vamos a encontrar al niño en el parque. We are going to find the boy in the park.
Vosotros vais a encontrar Vosotros vais a encontrar la casa con el mapa. You are going to find the house with the map.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas van a encontrar Ellos van a encontrar algo que comer en la refrigeradora. They are going to find something to eat in the fridge.

Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The gerund or present participle for -ar verbs is formed with the ending -ando. One of its uses is to form progressive verb tenses like the present progressive.

Present Progressive of Encontrar está encontrando Ella está encontrando las llaves perdidas. She is finding the lost keys.

Past Participle

The past participle for -ar verbs is formed with the ending -ado. One of its uses is to form perfect tenses, like the present perfect and pluperfect.

Present Perfect of Encontrar ha encontrado Ella ha encontrado las llaves perdidas. She has found the lost keys.

Conditional Indicative

The conditional tense, just like the future tense, uses the infinitive form as its stem, so it does not have any stem changes either.

Yo encontraría Yo encontraría paz en la meditación si lo intentara. I would find peace in meditation if I tried.
Tú encontrarías Tú encontrarías dinero en la calle si lo buscaras. You would find money on the street if you looked for it.
Usted/él/ella encontraría Ella encontraría las llaves perdidas si tuviera paciencia. She would find the lost keys if she had patience.
Nosotros encontraríamos Nosotros encontraríamos al niño en el parque si tuviéramos suerte. We would find the boy in the park if we were lucky.
Vosotros encontraríais Vosotros encontraríais la casa con el mapa si supierais leerlo. You would find the house with the map if you knew how to read it.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas encontrarían Ellos encontrarían algo que comer en la refrigeradora si tuvieran hambre. They would find something to eat in the fridge if they were hungry.

Present Subjunctive

Just like in the present indicative tense, the present subjunctive has the stem change "o" to "ue" in all of the conjugations except nosotros and vosotros.

Que yo encuentre El psicólogo quiere que yo encuentre paz en la meditación. The psychologist wants me to find peace in meditation.
Que tú encuentres El niño quiere que tú encuentres dinero en la calle. The boy wants you to find money on the street.
Que usted/él/ella encuentre Pablo espera que ella encuentre las llaves perdidas. Pablo hopes that she finds the lost keys.
Que nosotros encontremos Los padres esperan que nosotros encontremos al niño en el parque. The parents hope that we find the boy in the park.
Que vosotros encontréis La vecina espera que vosotros encontréis la casa con el mapa. The neighbor hopes that you find the house with the map.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas encuentren José espera que ustedes encuentren comida en la refrigeradora. José hopes that you find food in the fridge.

Imperfect Subjunctive

There are two ways in which you can conjugate the imperfect subjunctive:

Option 1

Que yo encontrara El psicólogo quería que yo encontrara paz en la meditación. The psychologist wanted me to find peace in meditation.
Que tú encontraras El niño quería que tú encontraras dinero en la calle. The boy wanted you to find money on the street.
Que usted/él/ella encontrara Pablo esperaba que ella encontrara las llaves perdidas. Pablo hoped that she would find the lost keys.
Que nosotros encontráramos Los padres esperaban que nosotros encontráramos al niño en el parque. The parents hoped that we would find the boy in the park.
Que vosotros encontrarais La vecina esperaba que vosotros encontrarais la casa con el mapa. The neighbor hoped that you would find the house with the map.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas encontraran José esperaba que ustedes encontraran comida en la refrigeradora. José hoped that you would find food in the fridge.

Option 2

Que yo encontrase El psicólogo quería que yo encontrase paz en la meditación. The psychologist wanted me to find peace in meditation.
Que tú encontrases El niño quería que tú encontrases dinero en la calle. The boy wanted you to find money on the street.
Que usted/él/ella encontrase Pablo esperaba que ella encontrase las llaves perdidas. Pablo hoped that she would find the lost keys.
Que nosotros encontrásemos Los padres esperaban que nosotros encontrásemos al niño en el parque. The parents hoped that we would find the boy in the park.
Que vosotros encontraseis La vecina esperaba que vosotros encontraseis la casa con el mapa. The neighbor hoped that you would find the house with the map.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas encontrasen José esperaba que ustedes encontrasen comida en la refrigeradora. José hoped that you would find food in the fridge.

Imperative

The imperative mood consists of orders and commands. Note that the stem change "o" to "ue" occurs in some of the commands.

Positive Commands

Tú encuentra ¡Encuentra dinero en la calle! Find money on the street!
Usted encuentre ¡Encuentre las llaves perdidas! Find the lost keys!
Nosotros encontremos ¡Encontremos al niño en el parque! Let's find the boy in the park!
Vosotros encontrad ¡Encontrad la casa con el mapa! Find the house with the map!
Ustedes encuentren ¡Encuentren comida en la refrigeradora! Find food in the fridge!

Negative Commands

Tú no encuentres ¡No encuentres dinero en la calle! Don't find money on the street!
Usted no encuentre ¡No encuentre las llaves perdidas! Don't find the lost keys!
Nosotros no encontremos ¡No encontremos al niño en el parque! Let's not find the boy in the park!
Vosotros no encontréis ¡No encontréis la casa con el mapa! Don't find the house with the map!
Ustedes no encuentren ¡No encuentren comida en la refrigeradora! Don't find food in the fridge!
Cite this Article Your Citation

Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Encontrar Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/spanish-verb-encontrar-conjugation-4783523. Meiners, Jocelly. (2023, April 5). Spanish Verb Encontrar Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-verb-encontrar-conjugation-4783523 Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Encontrar Conjugation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-verb-encontrar-conjugation-4783523 (accessed September 8, 2024).

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