encontrarla
“encontrarla” means “to find her” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:
to find her, to find it
Also: to discover it
📝 In Action
Necesito la llave. ¿Puedes ayudarme a encontrarla?
A2I need the key. Can you help me to find it?
Estudió mucho para encontrarla, la respuesta correcta.
B1She studied a lot to find it, the correct answer.
to meet her, to run into her
📝 In Action
Ella dijo que quería encontrarla después del trabajo.
B1She said she wanted to meet her after work.
Fue una sorpresa encontrarla en el cine, no sabía que estaba en la ciudad.
B2It was a surprise to run into her at the cinema; I didn't know she was in the city.
🔄 Conjugations
indicative
present
imperfect
preterite
subjunctive
present
imperfect
✏️ Quick Practice
Quick Quiz: encontrarla
Question 1 of 1
Which sentence correctly uses 'encontrarla'?
📚 More Resources
👥 Word Family▼
🎵 Rhymes▼
📚 Etymology▼
The base verb 'encontrar' comes from the Latin prefix 'in-' (meaning 'in' or 'on') combined with the word 'contra' (meaning 'against' or 'opposite'). The original sense was related to running against something or meeting face-to-face, which evolved into the modern sense of locating or discovering.
First recorded: 13th century
Cognates (Related words)
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Frequently Asked Questions
If 'la' is attached to the infinitive, where else can I put it?
When you have two verbs (like 'poder' + 'encontrar'), the pronoun 'la' can either be attached to the infinitive ('Quiero encontrarla') or placed immediately before the conjugated verb ('La quiero encontrar'). Both are correct ways to say 'I want to find it/her'.
How do I say 'to find him' instead of 'to find her'?
You would use the masculine direct object pronoun 'lo' instead of 'la', resulting in the word 'encontrarlo'.