encarar — Spanish conjugation

to face

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

The present tense is the most versatile tense in Spanish. It covers actions happening right now, habitual actions, and even near-future plans. One form does the work of three English constructions.

Ella habla inglés — She speaks / is speaking English

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoencaroI face
encarasyou face
vosencarásyou face
él/ella/Ud.encarahe/she/it faces
nosotrosencaramoswe face
vosotrosencaráisyou (pl.) face
ellos/ellas/Uds.encaranthey face

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Regular

Used for completed past actions with a defined endpoint — a single event, a series of events, or an action that interrupted another. Common with time expressions like ayer, el lunes, una vez.

Ella habló de ti ayer — She spoke about you yesterday

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoencaréI faced
encarasteyou faced
vosencarasteyou faced
él/ella/Ud.encaróhe/she/it faced
nosotrosencaramoswe faced
vosotrosencarasteisyou (pl.) faced
ellos/ellas/Uds.encararonthey faced

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto) Regular

Describes ongoing or habitual past states — what things were like, background context, what used to happen. Contrasts with the preterite which marks completed events.

Cuando era niño vivía en Valencia — When I was a child I lived in Valencia

PronounSpanish
yoencaraba
encarabas
vosencarabas
él/ella/Ud.encaraba
nosotrosencarábamos
vosotrosencarabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.encaraban

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

Expresses hypothetical actions, polite requests, and what would happen under certain conditions. Also used for reported speech about the future from a past perspective.

¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoencararíaI would face
encararíasyou would face
vosencararíasyou would face
él/ella/Ud.encararíahe/she/it would face
nosotrosencararíamoswe would face
vosotrosencararíaisyou (pl.) would face
ellos/ellas/Uds.encararíanthey would face

Future (Futuro) Regular

Expresses future actions, predictions, and probability about the present. Formed with the full infinitive as stem for most verbs. In spoken Spanish, ir a + infinitive is often preferred for near future.

Ella hablará en conferencia mañana — She will speak at the conference tomorrow

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoencararéI will face
encararásyou will face
vosencararásyou will face
él/ella/Ud.encararáhe/she/it will face
nosotrosencararemoswe will face
vosotrosencararéisyou (pl.) will face
ellos/ellas/Uds.encararánthey will face

Present perfect (Pretérito perfecto) Regular

A compound past tense linking a past action to the present moment — something that has happened and still feels recent or relevant. More common in Spain than Latin America where preterite is preferred.

Hoy he hablado con el jefe — Today I have spoken with the boss

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohe encaradoI have faced
has encaradoyou have faced
voshas encaradoyou have faced
él/ella/Ud.ha encaradohe/she/it has faced
nosotroshemos encaradowe have faced
vosotroshabéis encaradoyou (pl.) have faced
ellos/ellas/Uds.han encaradothey have faced

Pluperfect (Pretérito pluscuamperfecto) Regular

The past of the past — describes an action that was already completed before another past event happened. Always implies a reference point in the past.

Ya había hablado cuando llegaste — She had already spoken when you arrived

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabía encaradoI had faced
habías encaradoyou had faced
voshabías encaradoyou had faced
él/ella/Ud.había encaradohe/she/it had faced
nosotroshabíamos encaradowe had faced
vosotroshabíais encaradoyou (pl.) had faced
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían encaradothey had faced

Conditional perfect (Condicional perfecto) Regular

Expresses what would have happened — actions that were possible but did not occur, or regrets about the past. Formed with conditional of haber + past participle.

Habría hablado, pero no me dejaron — I would have spoken, but they did not let me

PronounSpanish
yohabría encarado
habrías encarado
voshabrías encarado
él/ella/Ud.habría encarado
nosotroshabríamos encarado
vosotroshabríais encarado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían encarado

Future perfect (Futuro perfecto) Regular

Describes an action that will have been completed by a certain point in the future, or expresses probability about a recent past action.

Para el lunes habré terminado — By Monday I will have finished

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabré encaradoI will have faced
habrás encaradoyou will have faced
voshabrás encaradoyou will have faced
él/ella/Ud.habrá encaradohe/she/it will have faced
nosotroshabremos encaradowe will have faced
vosotroshabréis encaradoyou (pl.) will have faced
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán encaradothey will have faced

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Regular

Used in subordinate clauses after expressions of desire, doubt, emotion, necessity, or impersonal statements. Triggered by a change of subject between the main and subordinate clause.

Espero que hable — I hope she speaks

PronounSpanish
yoencare
encares
vosencares
él/ella/Ud.encare
nosotrosencaremos
vosotrosencaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.encaren

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Regular

The past subjunctive used after past main verbs, in if-clauses with conditional, and for polite softening. The -ra form is more common in everyday speech than the -se form.

Si pudiera, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yoencarara
encararas
vosencararas
él/ella/Ud.encarara
nosotrosencaráramos
vosotrosencararais
ellos/ellas/Uds.encararan

Imperfect subjunctive (-se) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-se)) Regular

The alternative past subjunctive form. Interchangeable with -ra in most contexts but slightly more literary or formal. Both forms are grammatically correct in all regions.

Si pudiese, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yoencarase
encarases
vosencarases
él/ella/Ud.encarase
nosotrosencarásemos
vosotrosencaraseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.encarasen

Perfect subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

A compound subjunctive that expresses completed actions in a subjunctive context — used after present or future main verbs expressing doubt, emotion or desire.

Dudo que ya haya llegado — I doubt she has already arrived

PronounSpanish
yohaya encarado
hayas encarado
voshayas encarado
él/ella/Ud.haya encarado
nosotroshayamos encarado
vosotroshayáis encarado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan encarado

Pluperfect subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

Expresses what had happened in hypothetical or unreal past contexts — the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect. Common in contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Si hubiera hablado, lo habrían creído — If she had spoken, they would have believed her

PronounSpanish
yohubiera encarado
hubieras encarado
voshubieras encarado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera encarado
nosotroshubiéramos encarado
vosotroshubierais encarado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran encarado

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

Direct commands and instructions. The imperative only exists for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes — yo has no command form. Affirmative and negative forms use different conjugations.

Habla más despacio — Speak more slowly

PronounSpanish
encara
vosencará
él/ella/Ud.encare
nosotrosencaremos
vosotrosencarad
ustedesencaren

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands use the subjunctive forms for all persons. Formed with no + present subjunctive. This applies to all persons including tú where the affirmative uses a different form.

No hables tan rápido — Do not speak so fast

PronounSpanish
no encares
vosno encares
él/ella/Ud.no encare
nosotrosno encaremos
vosotrosno encaréis
ustedesno encaren

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Regular

Emphasises that an action is happening right now at this very moment. Less common than in English since the present tense already covers ongoing actions in Spanish.

Estoy hablando contigo — I am speaking with you

PronounSpanish
yoestoy encarando
estás encarando
vosestás encarando
él/ella/Ud.está encarando
nosotrosestamos encarando
vosotrosestáis encarando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están encarando

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that was in progress throughout a completed past period. Uses the preterite of estar + gerund to emphasise the ongoing nature within a defined timeframe.

Estuvo hablando toda la tarde — He was talking all afternoon

PronounSpanish
yoestuve encarando
estuviste encarando
vosestuviste encarando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo encarando
nosotrosestuvimos encarando
vosotrosestuvisteis encarando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron encarando

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Regular

Emphasises an ongoing background action using the imperfect of estar + gerund. Layered on top of the imperfect which already conveys continuity — used for extra emphasis on the progressive nature.

Estaba hablando cuando entró — I was speaking when he came in

PronounSpanish
yoestaba encarando
estabas encarando
vosestabas encarando
él/ella/Ud.estaba encarando
nosotrosestábamos encarando
vosotrosestabais encarando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban encarando

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Regular

Expresses what would be in progress under hypothetical conditions. Uses the conditional of estar + gerund. Less common but used for emphasis on the ongoing nature of a hypothetical action.

Estaría hablando ahora si pudiera — I would be speaking now if I could

PronounSpanish
yoestaría encarando
estarías encarando
vosestarías encarando
él/ella/Ud.estaría encarando
nosotrosestaríamos encarando
vosotrosestaríais encarando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían encarando

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that will be in progress at a future point, or expresses probability about an ongoing present action. Uses the future of estar + gerund.

Mañana a esta hora estaré viajando — At this time tomorrow I will be travelling

PronounSpanish
yoestaré encarando
estarás encarando
vosestarás encarando
él/ella/Ud.estará encarando
nosotrosestaremos encarando
vosotrosestaréis encarando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán encarando