Ella Verbsencabezar to head, to lead Irregular Verb
At a glance: Encabezar (to head, to lead) is a irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: encabezo, encabezas, encabeza, encabezamos, encabezáis, encabezan. The present tense is regular. In the preterite: yo changes z to c (encabecé); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (encabece).

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The Indicative Present of encabezar is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, “encabezo”, meaning “I head”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabezo | I head |
| Tú | encabezas | you head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabeza | s/he heads |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezamos | we head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezáis | you (plural) head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezan | they head |
How it’s built: Regular: stem encabez- plus the -ar endings.
The Indicative Preterite of encabezar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “encabecé”, meaning “I headed”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabecé | I headed |
| Tú | encabezaste | you headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabezó | s/he headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezamos | we headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezasteis | you (plural) headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezaron | they headed |
How it’s built: Yo changes z to c (encabecé); the other forms are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Imperfect of encabezar is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “encabezaba”, meaning “I used to head”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabezaba | I used to head |
| Tú | encabezabas | you used to head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabezaba | s/he used to head |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezábamos | we used to head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezabais | you (plural) used to head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezaban | they used to head |
How it’s built: Regular: stem encabez- plus the -ar endings.
The Indicative Present Continuous of encabezar is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy encabezando”, meaning “I am heading”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy encabezando | I am heading |
| Tú | estás encabezando | you are heading |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está encabezando | s/he is heading |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos encabezando | we are heading |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis encabezando | you (plural) are heading |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están encabezando | they are heading |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund encabezando.
The Indicative Informal Future of encabezar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a encabezar”, meaning “I am going to head”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a encabezar | I am going to head |
| Tú | vas a encabezar | you are going to head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a encabezar | s/he is going to head |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a encabezar | we are going to head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a encabezar | you (plural) are going to head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a encabezar | they are going to head |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive encabezar.
The Indicative Future of encabezar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “encabezaré”, meaning “I will head”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabezaré | I will head |
| Tú | encabezarás | you will head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabezará | s/he will head |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezaremos | we will head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezaréis | you (plural) will head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezarán | they will head |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive encabezar plus the future endings.
The Indicative Conditional of encabezar is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “encabezaría”, meaning “I would head”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabezaría | I would head |
| Tú | encabezarías | you would head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabezaría | s/he would head |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezaríamos | we would head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezaríais | you (plural) would head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezarían | they would head |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive encabezar plus the conditional endings.
The Indicative Present Perfect of encabezar is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, “he encabezado”, meaning “I have headed”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he encabezado | I have headed |
| Tú | has encabezado | you have headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha encabezado | s/he has headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos encabezado | we have headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis encabezado | you (plural) have headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han encabezado | they have headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle encabezado.
The Indicative Past Perfect of encabezar is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había encabezado”, meaning “I had headed”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había encabezado | I had headed |
| Tú | habías encabezado | you had headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había encabezado | s/he had headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos encabezado | we had headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais encabezado | you (plural) had headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían encabezado | they had headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle encabezado.
The Indicative Future Perfect of encabezar is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré encabezado”, meaning “I will have headed”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré encabezado | I will have headed |
| Tú | habrás encabezado | you will have headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá encabezado | s/he will have headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos encabezado | we will have headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis encabezado | you (plural) will have headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán encabezado | they will have headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle encabezado.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of encabezar is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría encabezado”, meaning “I would have headed”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría encabezado | I would have headed |
| Tú | habrías encabezado | you would have headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría encabezado | s/he would have headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos encabezado | we would have headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais encabezado | you (plural) would have headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían encabezado | they would have headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle encabezado.
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The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, “encabece”, meaning “I head”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabece | I head |
| Tú | encabeces | you head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabece | s/he heads |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabecemos | we head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabecéis | you (plural) head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabecen | they head |
How it’s built: Every form changes z to c (encabece, encabeces, encabece, encabecemos, encabecéis, encabecen).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, “encabezara”, meaning “I headed”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabezara | I headed |
| Tú | encabezaras | you headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabezara | s/he headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezáramos | we headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezarais | you (plural) headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezaran | they headed |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, encabezaron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (encabezáramos).
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “encabezare”, meaning “I will head”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encabezare | I will head |
| Tú | encabezares | you will head |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabezare | s/he will head |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabezáremos | we will head |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezareis | you (plural) will head |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabezaren | they will head |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, encabezaron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (encabezáremos).
The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, “haya encabezado”, meaning “I have headed”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya encabezado | I have headed |
| Tú | hayas encabezado | you have headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya encabezado | s/he has headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos encabezado | we have headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis encabezado | you (plural) have headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan encabezado | they have headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle encabezado.
The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, “hubiera encabezado”, meaning “I had headed”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera encabezado | I had headed |
| Tú | hubieras encabezado | you had headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera encabezado | s/he had headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos encabezado | we had headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais encabezado | you (plural) had headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran encabezado | they had headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle encabezado.
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, “hubiere encabezado”, meaning “I will have headed”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere encabezado | I will have headed |
| Tú | hubieres encabezado | you will have headed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere encabezado | s/he will have headed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos encabezado | we will have headed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis encabezado | you (plural) will have headed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren encabezado | they will have headed |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle encabezado.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “encabece”, meaning “(to you formal) head!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | encabeza | (to you) head! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encabece | (to you formal) head! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encabecemos | let's head! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encabezad | (to you plural) head! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encabecen | (to you plural formal) head! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (encabeza); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (encabece, encabecemos, encabecen); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (encabezad).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no encabece”, meaning “(to you formal) don't head!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no encabeces | (to you) don't head! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no encabece | (to you formal) don't head! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no encabecemos | let's not head! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no encabecéis | (to you plural) don't head! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no encabecen | (to you plural formal) don't head! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no encabeces, no encabece, no encabecemos, no encabecéis, no encabecen.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Encabezar is an irregular Spanish verb. The present tense is regular. In the preterite: yo changes z to c (encabecé); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (encabece).
In the present tense (presente), encabezar is conjugated as: yo encabezo, tú encabezas, él/ella/usted encabeza, nosotros encabezamos, vosotros encabezáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encabezan. The present tense is used To talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths.
In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), encabezar is conjugated as: yo encabecé, tú encabezaste, él/ella/usted encabezó, nosotros encabezamos, vosotros encabezasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encabezaron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), encabezar is conjugated as: yo encabezaba, tú encabezabas, él/ella/usted encabezaba, nosotros encabezábamos, vosotros encabezabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes encabezaban. The imperfect is used To describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do.
In the future tense (futuro simple), encabezar is conjugated as: yo encabezaré, tú encabezarás, él/ella/usted encabezará, nosotros encabezaremos, vosotros encabezaréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encabezarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), encabezar is conjugated as: yo encabece, tú encabeces, él/ella/usted encabece, nosotros encabecemos, vosotros encabecéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encabecen. The present subjunctive is used To talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about.
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