Alcanzar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Alcanzar in Spanish

Alcanzar means “to reach” or “to attain.” You will learn its regular -AR endings, the z → c spelling change before e, common meanings, subjunctive forms, and commands.

Alcanzar conjugation at a glance

Alcanzar is an -AR verb whose endings are regular. Verb type: Irregular because the spelling changes from z to c before e. The key forms are alcancé — “I reached” — and alcance — “that I reach,” where c preserves the expected sound before e.

Alcanzar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund helps build progressive constructions, and the past participle is used with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. With compound forms built with haber, the participle does not agree with the subject.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	alcanzar	to reach / to attain
Gerund	alcanzando	reaching
Past participle	alcanzado	reached in compound use

Alcanzar meaning and essential uses

Alcanzar — “to reach / to attain” — can refer to physically reaching something, catching up with someone, or attaining a goal. Alcancé la meta. — “I reached the goal.”

It can also describe something being sufficient: El dinero no alcanza para todo. — “The money is not enough for everything.” This use is normally intransitive, with the thing that is sufficient as the grammatical subject.

Alcanzar conjugation pattern

The stem is normally alcanz-. Before an ending beginning with e — “the vowel e” — Spanish changes z → c: alcancé — “I reached,” alcance — “that I reach,” and alcances — “that you reach.” Forms before a, o, or consonants keep z.

Alcanzar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Alcanzar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use the present indicative for current actions, habits, and general facts. The present forms keep z because none of the relevant endings begins with e.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcanzo	I reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzas	you reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanza	he / she reaches; you reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzamos	we reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzáis	you reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzan	they reach; you reach (plural)

• Alcanzo el estante con la mano. — I can reach the shelf with my hand.

Alcanzar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use the preterite for completed or bounded past events. The yo form changes z → c before é: alcancé — “I reached”; the other preterite forms keep z.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcancé	I reached
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzaste	you reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanzó	he / she reached; you reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzamos	we reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzasteis	you reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzaron	they reached; you reached (plural)

• Ayer alcancé mi objetivo. — Yesterday I reached my goal.

Alcanzar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use the imperfect for past habits, background situations, descriptions, or actions viewed as ongoing. The formation is regular for this verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcanzaba	I used to reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzabas	you used to reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanzaba	he / she used to reach; you used to reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzábamos	we used to reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzabais	you used to reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzaban	they used to reach; you used to reach (plural)

• Cuando era niño no alcanzaba la mesa. — When I was a child, I could not reach the table.

Alcanzar present progressive

Present progressive (el presente progresivo) — The present progressive is a verbal periphrasis for an action in progress. Form it with the present of estar — “to be” — plus alcanzando — “reaching.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy alcanzando	I am reaching
Tú — you, singular informal	estás alcanzando	you are reaching
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está alcanzando	he / she is reaching; you are reaching (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos alcanzando	we are reaching
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis alcanzando	you are reaching (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están alcanzando	they are reaching; you are reaching (plural)

• Estamos alcanzando el nivel previsto. — We are reaching the expected level.

Alcanzar near future conjugation

Near future (el futuro próximo) — The near future is a verbal periphrasis for an expected or intended future action. Form it with the present of ir — “to go” — plus a + alcanzar — “to reach / to attain.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a alcanzar	I am going to reach
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a alcanzar	you are going to reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a alcanzar	he / she is going to reach; you are going to reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a alcanzar	we are going to reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a alcanzar	you are going to reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a alcanzar	they are going to reach; you are going to reach (plural)

• Voy a alcanzar la meta este mes. — I am going to reach the goal this month.

Alcanzar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use the simple future for future events and, in some contexts, probability. Add the future endings to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcanzaré	I will reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzarás	you will reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanzará	he / she will reach; you will reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzaremos	we will reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzaréis	you will reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzarán	they will reach; you will reach (plural)

• Con práctica alcanzarás un nivel más alto. — With practice you will reach a higher level.

Alcanzar conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use the simple conditional for hypothetical results, polite softening, and other conditional meanings. Add the conditional endings to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcanzaría	I would reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzarías	you would reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanzaría	he / she would reach; you would reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzaríamos	we would reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzaríais	you would reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzarían	they would reach; you would reach (plural)

• Alcanzaría el tren con diez minutos más. — I would catch the train with ten more minutes.

Alcanzar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use the present perfect for a past event presented as connected to the present; its regional distribution varies. Form it with the present of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus alcanzado — “reached.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he alcanzado	I have reached
Tú — you, singular informal	has alcanzado	you have reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha alcanzado	he / she has reached; you have reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos alcanzado	we have reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis alcanzado	you have reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han alcanzado	they have reached; you have reached (plural)

• Ya hemos alcanzado el límite. — We have already reached the limit.

Alcanzar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use the past perfect for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the imperfect of haber plus alcanzado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había alcanzado	I had reached
Tú — you, singular informal	habías alcanzado	you had reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había alcanzado	he / she had reached; you had reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos alcanzado	we had reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais alcanzado	you had reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían alcanzado	they had reached; you had reached (plural)

• Cuando llegamos, ellos ya habían alcanzado la cima. — When we arrived, they had already reached the summit.

Alcanzar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro compuesto / antefuturo) — Use the future perfect for something expected to be completed by a future point. Form it with the future of haber plus alcanzado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré alcanzado	I will have reached
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás alcanzado	you will have reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá alcanzado	he / she will have reached; you will have reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos alcanzado	we will have reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis alcanzado	you will have reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán alcanzado	they will have reached; you will have reached (plural)

• Para mañana habremos alcanzado la meta. — By tomorrow we will have reached the goal.

Alcanzar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto / antepospretérito) — Use the conditional perfect for a hypothetical completed result or an unreal past outcome. Form it with the conditional of haber plus alcanzado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría alcanzado	I would have reached
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías alcanzado	you would have reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría alcanzado	he / she would have reached; you would have reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos alcanzado	we would have reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais alcanzado	you would have reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían alcanzado	they would have reached; you would have reached (plural)

• Habría alcanzado la puerta sin ayuda. — I would have reached the door without help.

Alcanzar subjunctive conjugations

Alcanzar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use the present subjunctive after environments such as wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, or necessity. Every person changes z → c before the e-based subjunctive endings.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcance	that I reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcances	that you reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcance	that he / she reach; that you reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcancemos	that we reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcancéis	that you reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcancen	that they reach; that you reach (plural)

• Espero que alcances tus objetivos. — I hope you reach your goals.

Alcanzar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use the imperfect subjunctive in past or hypothetical subordinate contexts. The table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid; for example, alcanzase — an accepted alternative first-person form.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcanzara	that I reached / were to reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzaras	that you reached / were to reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanzara	that he / she reached / were to reach; that you reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzáramos	that we reached / were to reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzarais	that you reached / were to reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzaran	that they reached / were to reach; that you reached (plural)

• Querían que alcanzáramos un acuerdo. — They wanted us to reach an agreement.
• Dudaban que alcanzásemos la meta a tiempo. — They doubted that we would reach the goal on time.

Alcanzar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. The future subjunctive survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. Its forms are built from the same preterite-derived base as the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	alcanzare	if / when I should reach
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanzares	if / when you should reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	alcanzare	if / when he / she should reach; if / when you should reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	alcanzáremos	if / when we should reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzareis	if / when you should reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	alcanzaren	if / when they should reach; if / when you should reach (plural)

• Quien alcanzare la puntuación mínima podrá continuar. — Whoever should reach the minimum score may continue.

Alcanzar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use the present perfect subjunctive for a completed action viewed through a present subjunctive trigger. Form it with the present subjunctive of haber plus alcanzado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya alcanzado	that I have reached
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas alcanzado	that you have reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya alcanzado	that he / she has reached; that you have reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos alcanzado	that we have reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis alcanzado	that you have reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan alcanzado	that they have reached; that you have reached (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas alcanzado tu meta. — I am glad that you have reached your goal.

Alcanzar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use the past perfect subjunctive for an unreal, prior, or completed action in a past/hypothetical subjunctive context. The table uses hubiera + alcanzado; hubiese + alcanzado is also accepted.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera alcanzado	that I had reached
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras alcanzado	that you had reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera alcanzado	that he / she had reached; that you had reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos alcanzado	that we had reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais alcanzado	that you had reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran alcanzado	that they had reached; that you had reached (plural)

• Ojalá hubiéramos alcanzado la estación antes. — I wish we had reached the station earlier.
• Si hubiésemos alcanzado la estación antes, habríamos tomado el tren. — If we had reached the station earlier, we would have caught the train.

Alcanzar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. The future perfect subjunctive is a reference form found mainly in restricted formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with the future subjunctive of haber plus alcanzado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere alcanzado	if / when I should have reached
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres alcanzado	if / when you should have reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere alcanzado	if / when he / she should have reached; if / when you should have reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos alcanzado	if / when we should have reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis alcanzado	if / when you should have reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren alcanzado	if / when they should have reached; if / when you should have reached (plural)

• Si para entonces se hubiere alcanzado el límite, se cerrará el proceso. — If by then the limit should have been reached, the process will be closed.

Alcanzar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish uses different morphological sources across persons and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Alcanzar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands to tell someone to perform the action. The usted, nosotros/nosotras, and ustedes forms reflect the present-subjunctive stem used by this verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	alcanza	Reach it!
Usted — you, singular formal	alcance	Reach it! (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	alcancemos	Let’s reach it!
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	alcanzad	Reach it! (plural, Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	alcancen	Reach it! (plural)

• Alcanza tu meta paso a paso. — Reach your goal step by step.

Alcanzar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms. The z → c spelling change appears before the e-based command endings.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no alcances	do not reach it
Usted — you, singular formal	no alcance	do not reach it (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no alcancemos	let’s not reach it
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no alcancéis	do not reach it (plural, Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no alcancen	do not reach it (plural)

• No alcances tus metas a costa de los demás. — Do not achieve your goals at the expense of others.

Common constructions with Alcanzar

These constructions show frequent ways the target verb combines with its complements. The examples keep the focus on the target verb rather than introducing a separate verb lesson.

• Alcanzar una meta. — To reach a goal.
• No alcanzo el estante de arriba. — I cannot reach the top shelf.
• El presupuesto alcanza para dos días. — The budget is enough for two days.

Example sentences with Alcanzar

These examples reinforce the target verb across common forms and contexts already explained above.

• Alcanzo la puerta sin levantarme. — I can reach the door without getting up.
• Ayer alcancé mi objetivo de ahorro. — Yesterday I reached my savings goal.
• De niño no alcanzaba el interruptor. — As a child, I could not reach the light switch.
• Espero que alcances tus metas. — I hope you reach your goals.

Regional and usage notes for Alcanzar

The core tables use tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. In voseo regions, the present and affirmative command can use distinct forms; the examples below show a common voseo pattern without replacing the core tú forms.

• Vos alcanzás la meta. — You reach the goal. (voseo)
• Alcanzá esa caja, por favor. — Reach that box, please. (affirmative vos command)

With alcanzar, the main technical point is spelling: keep z normally, but change it to c before e in forms such as alcancé and alcance while preserving the same underlying conjugation pattern.