How to Say "ran into" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “ran into” is “encontró” — A2 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
English → SpanishA2
VerbA2
an unplanned encounter
Examples
Se **encontró** con su profesor en el supermercado.
He/She ran into his/her teacher at the supermarket.
El explorador se **encontró** con un obstáculo inesperado.
The explorer encountered an unexpected obstacle.
The Magic `se` and `con`
To say you 'met' or 'ran into' someone, the verb changes to encontrarse con. The se shows the action is reciprocal or unexpected, and the con (with) introduces the person you met.
Forgetting 'con'
Mistake: “Ella se encontró su amigo.”
Correction: Ella se encontró **con** su amigo. When you mean 'to meet', you almost always need `con` after `encontrarse`.
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