encontrarlo

Encontrarlo is the infinitive phrase formed by the verb encontrar (to find) with the direct object pronoun lo attached, meaning “to find him/it.” It is used to refer to the act of locating a person, object, or abstract thing, and can be literal or figurative (for example, to come across an idea or to realize something). The construction is common in everyday speech, journalism, and literature.

Grammar and usage: Spanish allows clitic pronouns to attach to an infinitive. Encontrarlo can occur after a conjugated verb: quiero encontrarlo (I want to find him/it), voy a encontrarlo (I am going to find him/it). The pronoun agrees in gender and number with the object: encontrarla (to find her/it feminine), encontrarlos (to find them masculine), encontrarlas (to find them feminine). The pronoun may also precede the infinitive in written style or when the verb is in a compound tense: lo voy a encontrar, or voy a encontrarlo. The form can appear in various nonfinite constructions, such as after estar, after phrases like después de, or in progressive forms: estoy encontrándolo (I am finding him/it).

Etymology and related terms: encontrar derives from Old Spanish encontra, from Latin incontra-, through a sense of “to meet, come upon.” The modern meaning broadened from “to meet by chance” to “to find.” Related Spanish verbs include hallar, descubrir, and localizar, which can convey similar notions of finding or locating, though with nuanced differences in emphasis.

In usage, encontrarlo serves as a concise way to indicate the action of locating a masculine singular object or person, and forms part of broader patterns for expressing object pronouns with nonfinite verbs in Spanish.