Hallar or encontrar?

Question

Is there a difference between these two verbs for "to find" or can they be used interchangeably?

Answer 1

If you look up the definiton of hallar you will see the verb encontrar used as a synonym so in certain contexts they are interchangeable.

I always thought encontrar(se) meant more of a "to stumble across" type of find. I found myself in this location, circumstance, etc.

Note that one of its meanings for "to meet" is "ran into" expressing "unintended consequences" or that darned pronominal se to express accidently.

Hallar to me is used after buscar. I searched for something, then found it. (more like an intentional discover type of find).

However, I think that either nuance could be expressed with either word if expressed properly.

Sí "SE" es es es es ............. Oh I give up :) - ian-hill, Mar 20, 2010

Answer 2

hallar=encontrar

encontrar is of more common use and hallar sounds a little more "poetic".