encabezar Preterite Conjugation
encabezar — to lead
The preterite of encabezar is regular except for the 'yo' form (encabecé) which changes 'z' to 'c'.
encabezar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for completed leadership actions, like when someone led a parade or headed a specific news article yesterday.
Notes on encabezar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (encabecé) due to the spelling rule where 'z' becomes 'c' before 'e'. All other forms are regular -ar endings.
Example Sentences
Yo encabecé la marcha el domingo pasado.
I led the march last Sunday.
yo
El capitán encabezó el desfile.
The captain led the parade.
él/ella/usted
Ellos encabezaron la lista de los más vendidos.
They topped the bestseller list.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'encabezé' with a 'z'.
Correct: encabecé
Why: The 'z' must change to 'c' before the 'é' in the first-person singular preterite.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'encabezar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: encabezo
Encabezar is completely regular in the present indicative (encabezo, encabezas, encabeza).
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.