Encontrar (To Find/Meet) — Full Conjugation

Encontrar covers what English splits across two verbs: to find (come across something you were looking for or stumbled onto) and to meet (run into or have an arranged meeting with someone). It is a regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb, so its shape is entirely predictable — the complexity is syntactic. Encontrar algo/alguém is the transitive "find/run into" meaning; encontrar-se com alguém adds a reflexive clitic and means "to meet with" (arranged); encontrar-se em + place means "to be located at." English speakers often confuse encontrar with conhecer (to meet for the first time, to get to know), but the two are not interchangeable.

This page gives you every conjugated form plus a detailed guide to the four syntactic patterns you'll use every day.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Note the acute on encontrámos: this is the European Portuguese spelling, distinguishing preterite (closed stressed /a/) from present encontramos (unstressed /ɐ/). The acute reflects the genuine pronunciation difference in EP and is the standard EP written form — preserved under the 1990 Orthographic Agreement (AO90) precisely because Portuguese pronunciation distinguishes the two. Brazilian Portuguese pronounces both forms identically and writes them both without accent.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

Negative:

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

The four patterns of encontrar

1. Encontrar + direct object = to find / come across

The core transitive use. Something is found — an object, a person, a solution.

2. Encontrar-se com alguém = to meet with (arranged)

With a reflexive clitic and the preposition com, encontrar-se refers to an arranged meeting. Compare with plain encontrar, which suggests chance.

Note that in European Portuguese, encontrámos (preterite "we met") attaches the clitic with a hyphen: encontrámo-nos. The -s of encontrámos drops before the clitic -nos — this is the regular EP rule for 1pl preterites plus -nos, not a peculiarity of encontrar.

3. Encontrar-se em / a / perto de = to be located

With a location complement, encontrar-se simply means "to be located" or "to be situated." This is a slightly formal equivalent of estar when describing position or state.

4. Encontrar vs conhecer — find/run into vs meet for the first time

This is the mistake English speakers make most often. Conhecer is used when you meet someone for the first time or get to know them.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Encontrar is a regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb. Every form is predictable.
• The preterite nós form is encontrámos with acute accent in European Portuguese — distinguishing it from present encontramos (no accent). Brazilian Portuguese does not use this acute.
• Encontrar + object means to find or run into; encontrar-se com alguém means to meet with (arranged); encontrar-se em [place] means to be located.
• For meeting someone for the first time or getting to know them, use conhecer, not encontrar.
• In EP, clitics attach to the verb with a hyphen in declarative main clauses: encontrei-me (not me encontrei). The 1pl preterite drops its -s before the clitic -nos: encontrámo-nos (not encontrámos-nos).