Buscar Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples

Buscar Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples Buscar is a fairly common verb in Spanish that is usually translated as to look for or to search for. The conjugation of buscar is regular in pronunciation but irregular in spelling. This article includes buscar conjugations in the indicative mood (present, past, conditional, and future), the subjunctive mood (present and past), the imperative mood, and other verb forms. Using the Verb Buscar One major difference between the English verbs to look or to search and buscar, is that the Spanish version doesnt need to be followed by a preposition, which is a common mistake made by students learning the language. To avoid this confusion, you can think of buscar as meaning to seek. The conjugation of buscar is irregular in its spelling. Specifically, whenever a conjugated form of buscar would have the c followed by an e if it were regular, the c changes to qu. For example, to say I sought, you would use the form busquà © instead of buscà ©. You will find this spelling change also in the present subjunctive and some imperative conjugations. Common Uses of Buscar These common expressions include the verb buscar: buscar algo: to look for something - Busco mi lpiz (I look for my pencil).buscar algo: to look something up - Busco la respuesta en Internet (I look up the answer on the internet).buscar a alguien: to look for someone - Buscamos a Pedro (We are looking for Peter). Note that you need to include the personal a when looking for a specific person.buscar a alguien: to pick someone up - Voy a buscar a los nià ±os a las dos de la tarde. (Ill pick up the children at 2 p.m.). Here, again, you need the personal a. buscar [infinitivo]: to look to [verb] - Buscà ³ nadar en aguas ms seguras (He looked to swim in safer waters).se busca [sustantivo]: [noun] wanted - Se busca cocinero (Cook wanted).buscrsela: to look for trouble - Ella se la buscà ³ en las calles (She looked for trouble on the streets). The busca root can also be combined with several nouns to form compound nouns: el buscapersonas (sometimes shortened to busca) - pagerel buscapià ©s - firecrackerel/la buscaplata - fortune hunterel/la buscapleitos - troublemakerel/la buscarruidos - troublemaker, rabble-rouserel/la buscatesoros - treasure hunter, treasure seekerel/la buscavidas - ambitious person, busybody Buscar Present Indicative The verb buscar is regular in the present indicative tense. It follows the pattern of other -ar regular verb conjugations. Yo busco I search for Yo busco mis llaves por toda la casa. Tà º buscas You search for Tà º buscas a Carlitos en la escuela. Usted/à ©l/ella busca You/he/she searches for Ella busca la respuesta en el libro. Nosotros buscamos We search for Nosotros buscamos informacià ³n en Internet. Vosotros buscis You search for Vosotros buscis trabajo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas buscan You/they search for Ellos buscan oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar Preterite Indicative The preterite tense conjugations of buscar are regular, except for the spelling change that happens with the vowel e in the first person singular (yo). Yo busquà © I searched for Yo busquà ©mis llaves por toda la casa. Tà º buscaste You searched for Tà º buscaste a Carlitos en la escuela. Usted/à ©l/ella buscà ³ You/he/she searched for Ella buscà ³ la respuesta en el libro. Nosotros buscamos We searched for Nosotros buscamos informacià ³n en Internet. Vosotros buscasteis You searched for Vosotros buscasteis trabajo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas buscaron You/they searched for Ellos buscaron oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar Imperfect Indicative In the imperfect tense, the verb buscar is conjugated regularly. You start with the stem busc- and add the imperfect ending for -ar verbs (aba, abas, aba, bamos, aban). The imperfect tense can be translated as was searching for or used to search for. Yo buscaba I used to search for Yo buscabamis llaves por toda la casa. Tà º buscabas You used tosearch for Tà º buscabasa Carlitos en la escuela. Usted/à ©l/ella buscaba You/he/she used to search for Ella buscabala respuesta en el libro. Nosotros buscbamos We used to search for Nosotros buscbamosinformacià ³n en Internet. Vosotros buscabais You used to search for Vosotros buscabais trabajo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas buscaban You/they used to search for Ellos buscaban oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar Future Indicative To conjugate the future tense, start with the infinitive (buscar) and add the future tense endings (à ©, s, , emos, à ©is, n). Yo buscarà © I will search for Yo buscarà ©mis llaves por toda la casa. Tà º buscars Youwillsearch for Tà º buscarsa Carlitos en la escuela. Usted/à ©l/ella buscar You/he/shewill search for Ella buscarla respuesta en el libro. Nosotros buscaremos Wewill search for Nosotros buscaremos informacià ³n en Internet. Vosotros buscarà ©is Youwill search for Vosotros buscarà ©istrabajo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas buscarn You/theywill search for Ellos buscarn oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar PeriphrasticFuture Indicative To conjugate the periphrastic future you need the present indicative conjugation of the verb ir (to go), the preposition a, and the infinitive buscar. Yo voy a buscar I am going to search for Yo voy a buscarmis llaves por toda la casa. Tà º vasa buscar You aregoing to search for Tà º vasa buscar a Carlitos en la escuela. Usted/à ©l/ella vaa buscar You/he/shegoing to search for Ella vaa buscarla respuesta en el libro. Nosotros vamosa buscar We aregoing to search for Nosotros vamos a buscar informacià ³n en Internet. Vosotros vaisa buscar You aregoing to search for Vosotros vaisa buscartrabajo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas vana buscar You/they aregoing to search for Ellos vana buscar oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar Present Progressive/Gerund Form In order to form the gerund or present participle, use the stem of the verb and add the ending -ando (for -ar verbs). The present participle can be used to form progressive tenses such as the present progressive, usually formed with the auxiliary verb estar. Present Progressive ofBuscar est buscando She is searching for Ella est buscando la respuesta en el libro. Buscar Past Participle To form the past participle, start with the stem of the verb busc- and add the ending -ado (for -ar verbs). One of the uses of the past participle is to form perfect tenses like the present perfect, which uses the auxiliary verb haber. Present Perfect of Buscar ha buscado She has searched for Ella ha buscado la respuesta en el libro. Buscar Conditional Indicative The conditional tense can be used to talk about possibilities, and is usually translated to English as would verb. The conditional is formed similarly to the future tense, starting with the infinitive form and adding the corresponding ending. Yo buscarà ­a I would search for Yo buscarà ­amis llaves por toda la casa, pero no tengo paciencia. Tà º buscarà ­as Youwould search for Tà º buscarà ­as a Carlitos en la escuela si saliera temprano. Usted/à ©l/ella buscarà ­a You/he/shewould search for Ella buscarà ­a la respuesta en el libro si fuera necesario. Nosotros buscarà ­amos Wewould search for Nosotros buscarà ­amos informacià ³n en Internet si tuvià ©ramos una computadora. Vosotros buscarà ­ais Youwould search for Vosotros buscarà ­aistrabajo, pero os da pereza. Ustedes/ellos/ellas buscarà ­an You/theywould search for Ellos buscarà ­an oportunidades para mejorar si estuvieran ms motivados. Buscar Present Subjunctive To form the present subjunctive, use the stem of the first person singular present indicative (yo busco) and add the subjunctive endings. For -ar verbs, the endings all contain the vowel e, so you must include the spelling change c to qu. Que yo busque That I search for Es necesario que yo busque mis llaves por toda la casa. Que tà º busques That you search for Mam necesita que tà º busques a Carlitos en la escuela. Que usted/à ©l/ella busque That you/he/she search for La profesora recomienda que ella busquela respuesta en el libro. Que nosotros busquemos That we search for El bibliotecario sugiere que nosotros busquemos informacià ³n en Internet. Que vosotros busquà ©is That you search for Pap pide que vosotros busquà ©is trabajo. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas busquen That you/they search for La jefa espera que ellos busquen oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar Imperfect Subjunctive There are two options for conjugating the imperfect subjunctive. Although they are both considered correct, usage depends on location, as some countries prefer one option over the other. Option 1 Que yo buscara That I searched for Era necesario que yobuscara mis llaves por toda la casa. Que tà º buscaras That you searched for Mam necesitaba que tà º buscaras a Carlitos en la escuela. Que usted/à ©l/ella buscara That you/he/she searched for La profesora recomendaba que ella buscara la respuesta en el libro. Que nosotros buscramos That we searched for El bibliotecario sugerà ­a que nosotros buscramosinformacià ³n en Internet. Que vosotros buscarais That you searched for Pap pedà ­a que vosotros buscarais trabajo. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas buscaran That you/they searched for La jefa esperaba que ellos buscaran oportunidades para mejorar. Option 2 Que yo buscase That I searched for Era necesario que yobuscase mis llaves por toda la casa. Que tà º buscases That you searched for Mam necesitaba que tà º buscases a Carlitos en la escuela. Que usted/à ©l/ella buscase That you/he/she searched for La profesora recomendaba que ella buscase la respuesta en el libro. Que nosotros buscsemos That we searched for El bibliotecario sugerà ­a que nosotros buscsemosinformacià ³n en Internet. Que vosotros buscaseis That you searched for Pap pedà ­a que vosotros buscaseis trabajo. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas buscasen That you/they searched for La jefa esperaba que ellos buscasen oportunidades para mejorar. Buscar Imperative In order to give orders or commands, you need the imperative mood. Notice that in the imperative sometimes you will need to make the spelling change c to qu. Positive Commands Tà º busca Search for!  ¡Busca a Carlitos en la escuela! Usted busque Search for!  ¡Busque la respuesta en el libro! Nosotros busquemos Let's search for!  ¡Busquemos informacià ³n en Internet! Vosotros buscad Search for!  ¡Buscad trabajo! Ustedes busquen Search for!  ¡Busquen oportunidades para mejorar! Negative Commands Tà º no busques Don't search for!  ¡No busques a Carlitos en la escuela! Usted no busque Don't search for!  ¡No busque la respuesta en el libro! Nosotros no busquemos Let's not search for!  ¡No busquemos informacià ³n en Internet! Vosotros no busquà ©is Don't search for!  ¡No busquà ©is trabajo! Ustedes no busquen Don't search for!  ¡No busquen oportunidades para mejorar!