Encontrarse Conjugation | How to Conjugate Encontrarse in Spanish

Encontrarse means “to meet,” “to find oneself,” “to be located,” or “to be in a state.” You will learn its o → ue pattern, clitics, compounds, and commands.

Encontrarse conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Encontrarse is pronominal and has an o → ue stem change in stressed present-family forms: me encuentro / nos encontramos and me encuentre / nos encontremos. It also uses person-matched clitics.

Encontrarse gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The pronominal infinitive keeps se. The gerund can carry an attached clitic, and compound non-finite forms combine the clitic with haber. The participle encontrado remains invariant in compound forms.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	encontrarse	to find oneself / meet / be located
Gerund	encontrándose	finding oneself / meeting / being located
Past participle	encontrado	found oneself / met / been located
Compound infinitive	haberse encontrado	to have found oneself / met / been located
Compound gerund	habiéndose encontrado	having found oneself / met / been located

Encontrarse meaning and essential uses

RAE records several pronominal meanings: two or more people or things meeting in the same place, being in a particular state or location, and unexpectedly coming upon something: Me encuentro en Madrid.

Encontrarse con alguien commonly means “to meet / run into someone,” while encontrarse bien / mal describes how someone feels and encontrarse en identifies location or state.

Encontrarse irregular conjugation patterns

Stressed present forms use encuentr-: me encuentro, te encuentras, se encuentra, se encuentran. Nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras retain encontr-.

Present subjunctive follows the same stress split: me encuentre... but nos encontremos / os encontréis. Past, future, conditional, gerund, and participle are otherwise regular.

Encontrarse indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Encontrarse present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. Stressed forms use encuentr-; nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras retain encontr-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encuentro	I find myself / meet / be located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encuentras	you find yourself / meet / be located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encuentra	he / she finds himself / herself / meets / is located; you find yourself / meet / be located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontramos	we find ourselves / meet / be located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontráis	you find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encuentran	they find themselves / meet / be located; you find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)

• Me encuentro en la oficina. — I am at the office.

Encontrarse preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encontré	I found myself / met / was located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encontraste	you found yourself / met / was located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encontró	he / she found himself / herself / met / was located; you found yourself / met / was located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontramos	we found ourselves / met / was located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontrasteis	you found yourselves / met / was located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encontraron	they found themselves / met / was located; you found yourselves / met / was located (plural)

• Ayer me encontré con Marta en la estación. — Yesterday I ran into Marta at the station.

Encontrarse imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encontraba	I used to find myself / meet / be located / was finding myself / meeting / being located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encontrabas	you used to find yourself / meet / be located / were finding yourself / meeting / being located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encontraba	he / she used to find himself / herself / meet / be located / was finding himself / herself / meeting / being located; you used to find yourself / meet / be located / were finding yourself / meeting / being located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontrábamos	we used to find ourselves / meet / be located / were finding ourselves / meeting / being located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontrabais	you used to find yourselves / meet / be located / were finding yourselves / meeting / being located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encontraban	they used to find themselves / meet / be located / were finding themselves / meeting / being located; you used to find yourselves / meet / be located / were finding yourselves / meeting / being located (plural)

• Antes nos encontrábamos allí cada viernes. — We used to meet there every Friday.

Encontrarse present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. The main table places the clitic before estar. Attaching it to the gerund is also standard: estoy encontrándome.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me estoy encontrando	I am finding myself / meeting / being located
Tú — you, singular informal	te estás encontrando	you are finding yourself / meeting / being located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se está encontrando	he / she is finding himself / herself / meeting / being located; you are finding yourself / meeting / being located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos estamos encontrando	we are finding ourselves / meeting / being located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os estáis encontrando	you are finding yourselves / meeting / being located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se están encontrando	they are finding themselves / meeting / being located; you are finding yourselves / meeting / being located (plural)

• Me estoy encontrando mejor hoy. — I am feeling better today.

Encontrarse near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. The main table places the clitic before ir. Attaching it to the infinitive is also standard: voy a encontrarme.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me voy a encontrar	I am going to find myself / meet / be located
Tú — you, singular informal	te vas a encontrar	you are going to find yourself / meet / be located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se va a encontrar	he / she is going to find himself / herself / meet / be located; you are going to find yourself / meet / be located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos vamos a encontrar	we are going to find ourselves / meet / be located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os vais a encontrar	you are going to find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se van a encontrar	they are going to find themselves / meet / be located; you are going to find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)

• Me voy a encontrar con Ana después. — I am going to meet Ana later.

Encontrarse future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encontraré	I will find myself / meet / be located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encontrarás	you will find yourself / meet / be located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encontrará	he / she will find himself / herself / meet / be located; you will find yourself / meet / be located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontraremos	we will find ourselves / meet / be located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontraréis	you will find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encontrarán	they will find themselves / meet / be located; you will find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)

• Nos encontraremos delante del museo. — We will meet in front of the museum.

Encontrarse conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encontraría	I would find myself / meet / be located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encontrarías	you would find yourself / meet / be located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encontraría	he / she would find himself / herself / meet / be located; you would find yourself / meet / be located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontraríamos	we would find ourselves / meet / be located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontraríais	you would find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encontrarían	they would find themselves / meet / be located; you would find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)

• Me encontraría más cómodo en otra sala. — I would feel more comfortable in another room.

Encontrarse present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me he encontrado	I have found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te has encontrado	you have found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se ha encontrado	he / she has found himself / herself / met / been located; you have found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hemos encontrado	we have found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habéis encontrado	you have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se han encontrado	they have found themselves / met / been located; you have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Me he encontrado con varios problemas. — I have encountered several problems.

Encontrarse past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me había encontrado	I had found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te habías encontrado	you had found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se había encontrado	he / she had found himself / herself / met / been located; you had found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habíamos encontrado	we had found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habíais encontrado	you had found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habían encontrado	they had found themselves / met / been located; you had found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Ya nos habíamos encontrado antes. — We had already met before.

Encontrarse future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me habré encontrado	I will have found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te habrás encontrado	you will have found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se habrá encontrado	he / she will have found himself / herself / met / been located; you will have found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habremos encontrado	we will have found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habréis encontrado	you will have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habrán encontrado	they will have found themselves / met / been located; you will have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Para entonces se habrán encontrado todos en el punto acordado. — By then everyone will have met at the agreed point.

Encontrarse conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me habría encontrado	I would have found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te habrías encontrado	you would have found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se habría encontrado	he / she would have found himself / herself / met / been located; you would have found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habríamos encontrado	we would have found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habríais encontrado	you would have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habrían encontrado	they would have found themselves / met / been located; you would have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Me habría encontrado mejor con más descanso. — I would have felt better with more rest.

Encontrarse subjunctive conjugations

Encontrarse present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. Stressed forms use encuentr-; nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras use encontr-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encuentre	that I find myself / meet / be located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encuentres	that you find yourself / meet / be located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encuentre	that he / she find himself / herself / meet / be located; that you find yourself / meet / be located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontremos	that we find ourselves / meet / be located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontréis	that you find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encuentren	that they find themselves / meet / be located; that you find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)

• Espero que te encuentres bien. — I hope you feel well.

Encontrarse imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encontrara	that I found myself / met / was located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encontraras	that you found yourself / met / was located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encontrara	that he / she found himself / herself / met / was located; that you found yourself / met / was located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontráramos	that we found ourselves / met / was located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontrarais	that you found yourselves / met / was located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encontraran	that they found themselves / met / was located; that you found yourselves / met / was located (plural)

• Preferían que nos encontráramos en la entrada. — They preferred that we meet at the entrance.
• Era mejor que te encontrases con Marta en persona. — It was better for you to meet Marta in person.

Encontrarse future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. These rare reference forms belong mainly to formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical registers.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me encontrare	if / when I should find myself / meet / be located
Tú — you, singular informal	te encontrares	if / when you should find yourself / meet / be located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se encontrare	if / when he / she should find himself / herself / meet / be located; if / when you should find yourself / meet / be located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos encontráremos	if / when we should find ourselves / meet / be located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os encontrareis	if / when you should find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se encontraren	if / when they should find themselves / meet / be located; if / when you should find yourselves / meet / be located (plural)

• Quien se encontrare en una zona restringida deberá identificarse. — Whoever should be found in a restricted area must identify themselves.

Encontrarse present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me haya encontrado	that I have found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te hayas encontrado	that you have found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se haya encontrado	that he / she has found himself / herself / met / been located; that you have found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hayamos encontrado	that we have found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hayáis encontrado	that you have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hayan encontrado	that they have found themselves / met / been located; that you have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Me alegra que te hayas encontrado mejor. — I am glad that you have felt better.

Encontrarse past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me hubiera encontrado	that I had found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te hubieras encontrado	that you had found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se hubiera encontrado	that he / she had found himself / herself / met / been located; that you had found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hubiéramos encontrado	that we had found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hubierais encontrado	that you had found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hubieran encontrado	that they had found themselves / met / been located; that you had found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Si me hubiera encontrado con Ana, se lo habría contado. — If I had met Ana, I would have told her.
• Si te hubieses encontrado mal, habríamos parado. — If you had felt unwell, we would have stopped.

Encontrarse future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant encontrado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me hubiere encontrado	if / when I should have found myself / met / been located
Tú — you, singular informal	te hubieres encontrado	if / when you should have found yourself / met / been located
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se hubiere encontrado	if / when he / she should have found himself / herself / met / been located; if / when you should have found yourself / met / been located (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hubiéremos encontrado	if / when we should have found ourselves / met / been located
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hubiereis encontrado	if / when you should have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hubieren encontrado	if / when they should have found themselves / met / been located; if / when you should have found yourselves / met / been located (plural)

• Si se hubieren encontrado objetos adicionales, deberán registrarse. — If additional objects should have been found, they must be registered.

Encontrarse imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Encontrarse affirmative commands

In affirmative pronominal commands, attach the clitic and recompute accentuation. The nosotros/nosotras form loses final -s before nos, and the ordinary vosotros/vosotras form loses -d before os.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	encuéntrate	find yourself
Usted — you, singular formal	encuéntrese	find yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	encontrémonos	let’s find ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	encontraos	find yourselves (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	encuéntrense	find yourselves (plural)

• Encuéntrate con Marta en la entrada. — Meet Marta at the entrance.

Encontrarse negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no before the person-matched clitic and the verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no te encuentres	do not find yourself
Usted — you, singular formal	no se encuentre	do not find yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no nos encontremos	let’s not find ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no os encontréis	do not find yourselves (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no se encuentren	do not find yourselves (plural)

• No te encuentres con desconocidos en un lugar aislado. — Do not meet strangers in an isolated place.

Common constructions with Encontrarse

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• encontrarse con + person / situation. — to meet / run into someone or encounter a situation.
• encontrarse en + place / state. — to be located / find oneself in a place or state.
• encontrarse bien / mal. — to feel well / unwell.

Example sentences with Encontrarse

These examples reinforce useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• Me encuentro bien hoy. — I feel well today.
• Nos encontramos con ellos por casualidad. — We ran into them by chance.
• El edificio se encuentra en el centro. — The building is located downtown.
• Espero que te encuentres mejor mañana. — I hope you feel better tomorrow.
• Ya se han encontrado varias veces. — They have already met several times.
• Encuéntrense junto a la entrada principal. — Meet by the main entrance.

Regional and usage notes for Encontrarse

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes. Voseo changes some second-person singular forms where vos is used.

• Vos te encontrás bien hoy. — You feel well today. (voseo)
• Encontrate con nosotros a las ocho. — Meet us at eight. (affirmative vos command)

Encontrarse combines pronominal syntax with an o → ue stem change in stressed present-family forms. Track me encuentro / nos encontramos and me encuentre / nos encontremos, then choose complements according to meaning.