Buscar means to look for. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: busco, buscas, busca, buscamos, buscáis, buscan.
Buscar in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
Buscar in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Buscar in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Buscar in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Buscar in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | busco | busqué | buscaba | buscaré | buscaría |
| tú | buscas | buscaste | buscabas | buscarás | buscarías |
| él / ella / usted | busca | buscó | buscaba | buscará | buscaría |
| nosotros / nosotras | buscamos | buscamos | buscábamos | buscaremos | buscaríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | buscáis | buscasteis | buscabais | buscaréis | buscaríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | buscan | buscaron | buscaban | buscarán | buscarían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | busco | I look for |
| tú | buscas | you look for |
| él / ella / usted | busca | he/she looks for |
| nosotros / nosotras | buscamos | we look for |
| vosotros / vosotras | buscáis | you all (vosotros) look for |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | buscan | they look for |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | busqué | I looked for |
| tú | buscaste | you looked for |
| él / ella / usted | buscó | he/she looked for |
| nosotros / nosotras | buscamos | we looked for |
| vosotros / vosotras | buscasteis | you all (vosotros) looked for |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | buscaron | they looked for |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | buscaba | I used to look for |
| tú | buscabas | you used to look for |
| él / ella / usted | buscaba | he/she used to look for |
| nosotros / nosotras | buscábamos | we used to look for |
| vosotros / vosotras | buscabais | you all (vosotros) used to look for |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | buscaban | they used to look for |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | buscaré | I will look for |
| tú | buscarás | you will look for |
| él / ella / usted | buscará | he/she will look for |
| nosotros / nosotras | buscaremos | we will look for |
| vosotros / vosotras | buscaréis | you all (vosotros) will look for |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | buscarán | they will look for |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | buscaría | I would look for |
| tú | buscarías | you would look for |
| él / ella / usted | buscaría | he/she would look for |
| nosotros / nosotras | buscaríamos | we would look for |
| vosotros / vosotras | buscaríais | you all (vosotros) would look for |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | buscarían | they would look for |
Buscar differs from the regular endings in the preterite. Changed forms include preterite: busqué. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The present forms are busco, buscas, busca, buscamos, buscáis, buscan, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
busqué, buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron. For example, busqué means “I looked for”.
Buscar differs from the regular endings in the preterite. Changed forms include preterite: busqué. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The preterite (busqué) presents a completed event; the imperfect (buscaba) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I looked for” and “I used to look for”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are buscaré (“I will look for”) and buscaría (“I would look for”). The full charts above include every person.
Buscar means to look for.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.