encantar

Catalan

Etymology

Likely a Semi-learned borrowing from Latin incantāre. By surface analysis, en- +‎ cantar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əŋ.kənˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [eŋ.kanˈtaɾ]
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantí, past participle encantat)

1. to enchant, charm, delight
2. to love, enjoy
3. to bewitch, put a spell on

Usage notes

• In the sense translated as 'love', subject and object are reversed from those of to love. That is, the subject of encantar is the thing that is loved and the indirect object is the person loving it. As the object is indirect, a third-person subject is supplemented with the preposition a, or substituted by pronouns li/els.
• M'encanta l'hivern. — I love winter a lot. (literally to me winter loves a lot)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of encantar (first conjugation)

infinitive			encantar
gerund			encantant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		encantat		encantada
		plural		encantats		encantades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	encanto	encantes	encanta	encantem	encanteu	encanten
	imperfect	encantava	encantaves	encantava	encantàvem	encantàveu	encantaven
	future	encantaré	encantaràs	encantarà	encantarem	encantareu	encantaran
	preterite	encantí	encantares	encantà	encantàrem	encantàreu	encantaren
	conditional	encantaria	encantaries	encantaria	encantaríem	encantaríeu	encantarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	encanti	encantis	encanti	encantem	encanteu	encantin
	imperfect	encantés	encantessis	encantés	encantéssim	encantéssiu	encantessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	encanta	encanti	encantem	encanteu	encantin
	negative (no)	—	no encantis	no encanti	no encantem	no encanteu	no encantin

Derived terms

• encantador
• encanteri

Related terms

• cantar

Further reading

• “encantar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “encantar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “encantar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “encantar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese encantar, from Latin incantāre, present active infinitive of incantō, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. Equivalent to en- +‎ cantar.

Verb

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantei, past participle encantado)

1. to enchant, charm

Conjugation

    Conjugation of encantar

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	encantar
Personal	encantar	encantares	encantar	encantarmos	encantardes	encantaren
Gerund
	encantando
Past participle
Masculine	encantado			encantados
Feminine	encantada			encantadas
Indicative
Present	encanto	encantas	encanta	encantamos	encantades	encantan
Imperfect	encantaba	encantabas	encantaba	encantabamos	encantabades	encantaban
Preterite	encantei	encantaches	encantou	encantamos	encantastes	encantaron
Pluperfect	encantara	encantaras	encantara	encantaramos	encantarades	encantaran
Future	encantarei	encantarás	encantará	encantaremos	encantaredes	encantarán
Conditional	encantaría	encantarías	encantaría	encantariamos	encantariades	encantarían
Subjunctive
Present	encante	encantes	encante	encantemos	encantedes	encanten
Imperfect	encantase	encantases	encantase	encantásemos	encantásedes	encantasen
Future	encantar	encantares	encantar	encantarmos	encantardes	encantaren
Imperative
Affirmative		encanta	encante	encantemos	encantade	encanten
Negative (non)		non encantes	non encante	non encantemos	non encantedes	non encanten

    Reintegrated conjugation of encantar (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	encantar
Personal	encantar	encantares	encantar	encantarmos	encantardes	encantarem
Gerund
	encantando
Past participle
Masculine	encantado			encantados
Feminine	encantada			encantadas
Indicative
Present	encanto	encantas	encanta	encantamos	encantades, encantais	encantam
Imperfect	encantava	encantavas	encantava	encantávamos	encantávades, encantáveis, encantávais1	encantavam
Preterite	encantei	encantaste, encantache1	encantou	encantamos	encantastes	encantárom, encantaram
Pluperfect	encantara	encantaras	encantara	encantáramos	encantárades, encantáreis, encantárais1	encantaram
Future	encantarei	encantarás	encantará	encantaremos	encantaredes, encantareis	encantarám, encantarão
Conditional	encantaria	encantarias	encantaria	encantaríamos	encantaríades, encantaríeis, encantaríais1	encantariam
Subjunctive
Present	encante	encantes	encante	encantemos	encantedes, encanteis	encantem
Imperfect	encantasse	encantasses	encantasse	encantássemos	encantássedes, encantásseis	encantassem
Future	encantar	encantares	encantar	encantarmos	encantardes	encantarem
Imperative
Affirmative		encanta	encante	encantemos	encantade, encantai	encantem
Negative (nom)		nom encantes	nom encante	nom encantemos	nom encantedes, nom encanteis	nom encantem

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• cantar

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin incantāre.

Verb

encantar

1. to enchant, charm, delight
2. to love

Conjugation

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encanti	encantas	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantavi	encantavas	encantava	encantàvem	encantàvetz	encantavan
	preterite	encantèri	encantères	encantèt	encantèrem	encantèretz	encantèron
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantarà	encantarem	encantaretz	encantaràn
	conditional	encantariái	encantariás	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encanten
	imperfect	encantèssi	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantèssem	encantèssetz	encantèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Auvernhàs

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encante	encantes	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encanton
	imperfect	encantave	encantaves	encantava	encantaviam	encantaviatz	encantavon
	preterite	encantere	encanteres	encantet	encantem	encantetz	encanteron
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantará	encantarem	encantaretz	encantarán
	conditional	encantariá	encantariás	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantassiam	encantassiatz	encanton
	imperfect	encantesse	encantesses	encantesse	encantessiam	encantessiatz	encantesson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantassiam	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Gascon

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encanti	encantas	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantavi	encantavas	encantava	encantàvam	encantàvatz	encantavan
	preterite	encantèi	encantès	encantè	encantèm	encantètz	encantèn
	future	encantarèi	encantaràs	encantarà	encantaram	encantaratz	encantaràn
	conditional	encantarí	encantarés	encantaré	encantarem	encantaretz	encantarén
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encanti	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encanten
	imperfect	encantèssi	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantèssem	encantèssetz	encantèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Lemosin

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encante	encantas	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantava	encantavas	encantava	encantàvam	encantàvatz	encantavan
	preterite	encantei	encanteras	encantet	encantèram	encantèratz	encanteran
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantará	encantarem	encantaretz	encantarán
	conditional	encantariá	encantariàs	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encanten
	imperfect	encantèsse	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantèssem	encantèssetz	encantèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Provençau

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encante	encantes	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantavi	encantavas	encantava	encantàvem	encantàvetz	encantavan
	preterite	encantère	encantères	encantèt	encanteriam	encanteriatz	encantèron
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantarà	encantarem	encantaretz	encantaràn
	conditional	encantariáu	encantariás	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encantan
	imperfect	encantèsse	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantessiam	encantessiatz	encantèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese encantar, from Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. By surface analysis, en- +‎ cantar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(ʁ)/ [ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(h)], (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(ʁ)/ [ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(h)], (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(ɾ)/, (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(ʁ)/ [ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(χ)], (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta(ɻ)/, (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.kɐ̃ˈta(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈtaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈtaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽ.kɐ̃ˈta.ɾi/

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.kɐ̃.ˈta(h)/
• Hyphenation: en‧can‧tar

Verb

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantei, past participle encantado)

1. to enchant, charm
2. to delight
3. to bewitch, put a spell on

Conjugation

    Conjugation of encantar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	encantar
Personal	encantar	encantares	encantar	encantarmos	encantardes	encantarem
Gerund
	encantando
Past participle
Masculine	encantado			encantados
Feminine	encantada			encantadas
Indicative
Present	encanto	encantas	encanta	encantamos	encantais	encantam
Imperfect	encantava	encantavas	encantava	encantávamos	encantáveis	encantavam
Preterite	encantei	encantaste	encantou	encantamos1, encantámos2	encantastes	encantaram
Pluperfect	encantara	encantaras	encantara	encantáramos	encantáreis	encantaram
Future	encantarei	encantarás	encantará	encantaremos	encantareis	encantarão
Conditional	encantaria	encantarias	encantaria	encantaríamos	encantaríeis	encantariam
Subjunctive
Present	encante	encantes	encante	encantemos	encanteis	encantem
Imperfect	encantasse	encantasses	encantasse	encantássemos	encantásseis	encantassem
Future	encantar	encantares	encantar	encantarmos	encantardes	encantarem
Imperative
Affirmative		encanta	encante	encantemos	encantai	encantem
Negative (não)		não encantes	não encante	não encantemos	não encanteis	não encantem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• cantar

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. Equivalent to en- +‎ cantar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /enkanˈtaɾ/ [ẽŋ.kãn̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: en‧can‧tar

Verb

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encanté, past participle encantado)

1. to charm, to enchant
2. to please, to delight, (with reversed subject and object) to like very much, love, enjoy

   Synonym: gustar mucho

   Me encantan los mariscos.

   I love seafood.

   (literally, “Seafood delights me.”)

3. to bewitch

   Synonym: embrujar

Usage notes

• The English verb to love (i.e., to like very much, referring to non-human objects or activities) is usually translated to and from Spanish as encantar. This causes confusion for some English speakers studying Spanish, since the subject and object of encantar are seemingly reversed from those of to love. That is, the subject of encantar is the thing that "delights", and the (indirect) object is the one who "loves" that thing. (The related verb gustar ("to like") usually functions the same way as well.)

A commonly used method is to think of encantar as literally meaning "to delight" or "to be very pleasing to":

No me encantaron las patatas fritas. ― I didn't like the fries very much. (literally, “The fries were not very pleasing to me.”)

A los perros les encanta ladrar todo el día. ― Dogs love to bark all day. (literally, “Barking all day delights dogs.”)

A María le encantan los pueblitos. ― María loves little villages. (literally, “Little villages delight María.”)

Note that the indirect object pronoun is usually compulsory before encantar, even if the object itself is also present in the sentence. The only exception is if the object is a universal pronoun such as todo or nadie, in which case the extra pronoun is often optional:

«¿Crees que esta canción le encanta a Raquel?» «Pues claro, ¡la canción (le) encanta a todo el mundo!» ― "Do you think Raquel loves this song?" "Well of course, everyone loves the song!"

Also, in its conditional form, encantar can be used to express wishes or polite requests, in the same way as would love in English:

Nos encantaría conocerte. ― We would love to meet you.

• The verb is seldom used when expressing love for a person; more commonly used verbs in such contexts include amar (for romantic love), querer (for platonic or familial love; can also be used romantically) and caer muy bien (for just getting along with someone).
• When used to mean to love or to delight (as above), the verb takes an indirect object; on the other hand, when used to mean to bewitch (in the literal sense), it takes a direct object. Contrast the following:

Las espinacas le encantaron. ― She loved the spinach. (literally, “The spinach delighted her.”)

Las ancianas la encantaron. ― The elderly women bewitched her.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of encantar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			encantar
gerund			encantando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		encantado		encantada
		plural		encantados		encantadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	encanto	encantastú encantásvos	encanta	encantamos	encantáis	encantan
	imperfect	encantaba	encantabas	encantaba	encantábamos	encantabais	encantaban
	preterite	encanté	encantaste	encantó	encantamos	encantasteis	encantaron
	future	encantaré	encantarás	encantará	encantaremos	encantaréis	encantarán
	conditional	encantaría	encantarías	encantaría	encantaríamos	encantaríais	encantarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	encante	encantestú encantésvos2	encante	encantemos	encantéis	encanten
	imperfect (ra)	encantara	encantaras	encantara	encantáramos	encantarais	encantaran
	imperfect (se)	encantase	encantases	encantase	encantásemos	encantaseis	encantasen
	future1	encantare	encantares	encantare	encantáremos	encantareis	encantaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		encantatú encantávos	encante	encantemos	encantad	encanten
	negative		no encantes	no encante	no encantemos	no encantéis	no encanten

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of encantar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive encantar
	dative	encantarme	encantarte	encantarle, encantarse	encantarnos	encantaros	encantarles, encantarse
	accusative	encantarme	encantarte	encantarlo, encantarla, encantarse	encantarnos	encantaros	encantarlos, encantarlas, encantarse
with gerund encantando
	dative	encantándome	encantándote	encantándole, encantándose	encantándonos	encantándoos	encantándoles, encantándose
	accusative	encantándome	encantándote	encantándolo, encantándola, encantándose	encantándonos	encantándoos	encantándolos, encantándolas, encantándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative encanta
	dative	encántame	encántate	encántale	encántanos	not used	encántales
	accusative	encántame	encántate	encántalo, encántala	encántanos	not used	encántalos, encántalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative encantá
	dative	encantame	encantate	encantale	encantanos	not used	encantales
	accusative	encantame	encantate	encantalo, encantala	encantanos	not used	encantalos, encantalas
with formal second-person singular imperative encante
	dative	encánteme	not used	encántele, encántese	encántenos	not used	encánteles
	accusative	encánteme	not used	encántelo, encántela, encántese	encántenos	not used	encántelos, encántelas
with first-person plural imperative encantemos
	dative	not used	encantémoste	encantémosle	encantémonos	encantémoos	encantémosles
	accusative	not used	encantémoste	encantémoslo, encantémosla	encantémonos	encantémoos	encantémoslos, encantémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative encantad
	dative	encantadme	not used	encantadle	encantadnos	encantaos	encantadles
	accusative	encantadme	not used	encantadlo, encantadla	encantadnos	encantaos	encantadlos, encantadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative encanten
	dative	encántenme	not used	encántenle	encántennos	not used	encántenles, encántense
	accusative	encántenme	not used	encántenlo, encántenla	encántennos	not used	encántenlos, encántenlas, encántense

Related terms

• cantar
• encantado (adjective)
• encantador m (adjective)
• encantadoramente (adverb)
• encantamiento m
• encanto m

 

See also

• prendar

Further reading

• “encantar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28