How to Say "to jail" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “to jail” is “encarcelar” — B1 level.
Examples
La policía va a encarcelar al sospechoso esta tarde.
The police are going to jail the suspect this afternoon.
El juez decidió encarcelar al hombre por sus crímenes.
The judge decided to imprison the man for his crimes.
Fue encarcelado injustamente durante diez años.
He was unjustly imprisoned for ten years.
The 'Personal A'
Since this verb usually involves a person (the one being jailed), you must use 'a' before the name or title, like 'Encarcelaron a Pedro'.
It's a regular -ar verb
It follows the standard pattern for verbs ending in -ar, like 'hablar' or 'cantar', making its endings easy to predict.
Mixing it up with 'Cancelar'
Mistake: “No puedes encarcelar mi suscripción.”
Correction: Use 'cancelar' for subscriptions or events. 'Encarcelar' is strictly for putting people behind bars.
Related Translations
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