Ella Verbsencerrar to lock up, to shut in, to enclose (an area) Irregular Verb
At a glance: Encerrar (to lock up, to shut in, to enclose (an area)) is a irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: encierro, encierras, encierra, encerramos, encerráis, encierran. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (encierro, encierras, encierra, encierran); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (encierre).

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The Indicative Present of encerrar 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, “encierro”, meaning “I lock up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encierro | I lock up |
| Tú | encierras | you lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encierra | s/he locks up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerramos | we lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerráis | you (plural) lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encierran | they lock up |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (encierro, encierras, encierra, encierran); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Preterite of encerrar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “encerré”, meaning “I locked up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encerré | I locked up |
| Tú | encerraste | you locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encerró | s/he locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerramos | we locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerrasteis | you (plural) locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encerraron | they locked up |
How it’s built: Regular: stem encerr- plus the -ar endings.
The Indicative Imperfect of encerrar is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “encerraba”, meaning “I used to lock up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encerraba | I used to lock up |
| Tú | encerrabas | you used to lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encerraba | s/he used to lock up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerrábamos | we used to lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerrabais | you (plural) used to lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encerraban | they used to lock up |
How it’s built: Regular: stem encerr- plus the -ar endings.
The Indicative Present Continuous of encerrar is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy encerrando”, meaning “I am locking up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy encerrando | I am locking up |
| Tú | estás encerrando | you are locking up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está encerrando | s/he is locking up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos encerrando | we are locking up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis encerrando | you (plural) are locking up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están encerrando | they are locking up |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund encerrando.
The Indicative Informal Future of encerrar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a encerrar”, meaning “I am going to lock up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a encerrar | I am going to lock up |
| Tú | vas a encerrar | you are going to lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a encerrar | s/he is going to lock up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a encerrar | we are going to lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a encerrar | you (plural) are going to lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a encerrar | they are going to lock up |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive encerrar.
The Indicative Future of encerrar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “encerraré”, meaning “I will lock up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encerraré | I will lock up |
| Tú | encerrarás | you will lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encerrará | s/he will lock up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerraremos | we will lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerraréis | you (plural) will lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encerrarán | they will lock up |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive encerrar plus the future endings.
The Indicative Conditional of encerrar is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “encerraría”, meaning “I would lock up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encerraría | I would lock up |
| Tú | encerrarías | you would lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encerraría | s/he would lock up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerraríamos | we would lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerraríais | you (plural) would lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encerrarían | they would lock up |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive encerrar plus the conditional endings.
The Indicative Present Perfect of encerrar 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 encerrado”, meaning “I have locked up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he encerrado | I have locked up |
| Tú | has encerrado | you have locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha encerrado | s/he has locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos encerrado | we have locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis encerrado | you (plural) have locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han encerrado | they have locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle encerrado.
The Indicative Past Perfect of encerrar is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había encerrado”, meaning “I had locked up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había encerrado | I had locked up |
| Tú | habías encerrado | you had locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había encerrado | s/he had locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos encerrado | we had locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais encerrado | you (plural) had locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían encerrado | they had locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle encerrado.
The Indicative Future Perfect of encerrar is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré encerrado”, meaning “I will have locked up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré encerrado | I will have locked up |
| Tú | habrás encerrado | you will have locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá encerrado | s/he will have locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos encerrado | we will have locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis encerrado | you (plural) will have locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán encerrado | they will have locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle encerrado.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of encerrar is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría encerrado”, meaning “I would have locked up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría encerrado | I would have locked up |
| Tú | habrías encerrado | you would have locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría encerrado | s/he would have locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos encerrado | we would have locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais encerrado | you (plural) would have locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían encerrado | they would have locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle encerrado.
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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, “encierre”, meaning “I lock up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encierre | I lock up |
| Tú | encierres | you lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encierre | s/he locks up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerremos | we lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerréis | you (plural) lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encierren | they lock up |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, encierro (encierre, encierres, encierre, encierren); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
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, “encerrara”, meaning “I locked up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encerrara | I locked up |
| Tú | encerraras | you locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encerrara | s/he locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerráramos | we locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerrarais | you (plural) locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encerraran | they locked up |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, encerraron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (encerráramos).
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “encerrare”, meaning “I will lock up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | encerrare | I will lock up |
| Tú | encerrares | you will lock up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encerrare | s/he will lock up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerráremos | we will lock up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerrareis | you (plural) will lock up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encerraren | they will lock up |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, encerraron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (encerráremos).
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 encerrado”, meaning “I have locked up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya encerrado | I have locked up |
| Tú | hayas encerrado | you have locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya encerrado | s/he has locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos encerrado | we have locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis encerrado | you (plural) have locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan encerrado | they have locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle encerrado.
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 encerrado”, meaning “I had locked up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera encerrado | I had locked up |
| Tú | hubieras encerrado | you had locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera encerrado | s/he had locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos encerrado | we had locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais encerrado | you (plural) had locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran encerrado | they had locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle encerrado.
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 encerrado”, meaning “I will have locked up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere encerrado | I will have locked up |
| Tú | hubieres encerrado | you will have locked up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere encerrado | s/he will have locked up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos encerrado | we will have locked up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis encerrado | you (plural) will have locked up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren encerrado | they will have locked up |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle encerrado.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “encierre”, meaning “(to you formal) lock up!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | encierra | (to you) lock up! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | encierre | (to you formal) lock up! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | encerremos | let's lock up! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | encerrad | (to you plural) lock up! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | encierren | (to you plural formal) lock up! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (encierra); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (encierre, encerremos, encierren); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (encerrad).
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 encierre”, meaning “(to you formal) don't lock up!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no encierres | (to you) don't lock up! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no encierre | (to you formal) don't lock up! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no encerremos | let's not lock up! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no encerréis | (to you plural) don't lock up! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no encierren | (to you plural formal) don't lock up! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no encierres, no encierre, no encerremos, no encerréis, no encierren.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Encerrar is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (encierro, encierras, encierra, encierran); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (encierre).
In the present tense (presente), encerrar is conjugated as: yo encierro, tú encierras, él/ella/usted encierra, nosotros encerramos, vosotros encerráis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encierran. 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), encerrar is conjugated as: yo encerré, tú encerraste, él/ella/usted encerró, nosotros encerramos, vosotros encerrasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encerraron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), encerrar is conjugated as: yo encerraba, tú encerrabas, él/ella/usted encerraba, nosotros encerrábamos, vosotros encerrabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes encerraban. 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), encerrar is conjugated as: yo encerraré, tú encerrarás, él/ella/usted encerrará, nosotros encerraremos, vosotros encerraréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encerrarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), encerrar is conjugated as: yo encierre, tú encierres, él/ella/usted encierre, nosotros encerremos, vosotros encerréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes encierren. 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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