encontrar preterite conjugation
Encontrar (to find) in the preterite: encontré, encontraste, encontró, encontramos, encontrasteis, encontraron.
Pretérito indefinido Preterite
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the preterite
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Encontrar is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Encontrar in a sentence
- Encuentro mis llaves siempre.I always find my keys.
- Encontramos un restaurante excelente.We found an excellent restaurant.
Stem-changing (o→ue); reflexive 'encontrarse' means 'to be located' or 'to feel'.
FAQ
What is the preterite of encontrar?
Encontrar in the Spanish preterite: yo encontré, tú encontraste, él/ella/usted encontró, nosotros encontramos, vosotros encontrasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encontraron.
Is encontrar irregular in the preterite?
No. In the preterite encontrar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so encontré follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish preterite?
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How is the preterite formed?
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Full encontrar conjugation, all tenses →
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