encontrar Imperfect Conjugation
encontrar — to find
Encontrar is regular in the imperfect: encontraba, encontrabas, encontraba, encontrábamos, encontrabais, encontraban.
encontrar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for ongoing searches in the past or to describe how you used to find things (habitual actions).
Notes on encontrar in the Imperfect
This verb is regular. There is no stem change in the imperfect tense.
Example Sentences
De niño, siempre encontraba conchas en la playa.
As a child, I always used to find shells on the beach.
yo
No encontrábamos la salida del museo.
We couldn't find the exit of the museum.
nosotros
Ella encontraba consuelo en la música.
She found (used to find) comfort in music.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: encontramos
Correct: encontrábamos
Why: Confusing the preterite 'we found' with the imperfect 'we were finding'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: encuentro
Encontrar undergoes an o-to-ue stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: encontré
Encontrar is completely regular in the preterite; the o-to-ue stem change does not happen here.
Future
yo: encontraré
The future of encontrar is regular: attach -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the full infinitive.
Conditional
yo: encontraría
The conditional of encontrar is regular: encontraría, encontrarías, encontraría, encontraríamos, encontraríais, encontrarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: encuentre
The present subjunctive of encontrar follows the o-to-ue stem change except for nosotros and vosotros.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: encontrara
The imperfect subjunctive of encontrar is regular: encontrara, encontraras, encontrara, encontráramos, encontrarais, encontraran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: encuentra
The imperative of encontrar uses the stem-changed 'encuentra' for tú and 'encuentre' for usted.
Negative Imperative
yo: no encuentres
Negative commands use the present subjunctive forms: no encuentres, no encuentre, no encontremos.