encabezar Present Conjugation
encabezar — to lead
Encabezar is completely regular in the present indicative (encabezo, encabezas, encabeza).
encabezar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use this for current habits or facts, such as who currently leads a group or what headline tops a page.
Notes on encabezar in the Present
This verb is fully regular in the present tense. The 'z' remains because the endings start with 'o' or 'a'.
Example Sentences
Yo encabezo el comité de vecinos.
I lead the neighborhood committee.
yo
Esa noticia encabeza los periódicos de hoy.
That news tops today's newspapers.
él/ella/usted
Ustedes encabezan la clasificación del torneo.
You all are at the top of the tournament standings.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Thinking it has a stem change like 'encubrir'.
Correct: encabeza
Why: Encabezar is a regular -ar verb; the 'e' in the stem does not change to 'ie'.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: encabecé
The preterite of encabezar is regular except for the 'yo' form (encabecé) which changes 'z' to 'c'.
Imperfect
yo: encabezaba
The imperfect of encabezar is regular, using the -aba endings (encabezaba, encabezabas).
Future
yo: encabezaré
The future of encabezar is regular: add the endings to the full infinitive (encabezaré, encabezarás).
Conditional
yo: encabezaría
The conditional of encabezar is regular: infinitive + -ía endings (encabezaría, encabezarías).
Present Subjunctive
yo: encabece
The present subjunctive of encabezar requires a spelling change from 'z' to 'c' (encabece, encabeces, etc.).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: encabezara
The imperfect subjunctive of encabezar follows the standard -ra pattern (encabezara, encabezaras).
Affirmative Imperative
yo: encabeza
The imperative uses 'encabeza' (tú) and 'encabecen' (ustedes) with a spelling change in most forms.
Negative Imperative
yo: no encabeces
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no encabeces, no encabece.