Procurar (To Look For/Seek) — Full Conjugation

Procurar is one of the most common everyday verbs in European Portuguese, meaning to look for, to seek, or to search (for). You use it every time you reach into your bag for your keys (estou a procurar as chaves), every time you scroll through job listings (procuro trabalho), and every time a classified ad announces a vacancy (procura-se empregado). Procurar is a fully regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb — no stem changes, no spelling quirks, no irregular participle — which makes it an excellent model for the entire -ar class.

What trips English speakers up is not the conjugation but the syntax: in European Portuguese, procurar takes a direct object without any preposition. You do not "look for" something in Portuguese — you simply "procurar" it.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense for current actions, habits, and general truths. Procuro trabalho na área da saúde = I'm looking for a job in healthcare.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Use this tense for past habits, background descriptions, and actions in progress in the past. Procurava um apartamento perto do trabalho = I was looking for an apartment near work.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Use this tense for completed past actions. Procurei em todo o lado = I looked everywhere.

Note the acute accent on procurámos (1st person plural preterite). European Portuguese distinguishes the preterite procurámos (we looked for) from the present procuramos (we look for) through this accent. Brazilian Portuguese, following the 1990 orthographic agreement, drops this distinction and writes both forms as procuramos — but in Portugal the accent is still written in careful writing.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

The simple pluperfect is a synthetic form used mainly in literary and formal writing. In speech, Portuguese uses the compound pluperfect (see below).

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

The compound pluperfect is the everyday way to say had looked for. Formed with the imperfect of ter plus procurado.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Describes an action that has been happening repeatedly or continuously up to now. Tenho procurado um bom dentista = I've been looking for a good dentist (lately).

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Use this tense for future actions. In everyday speech, Portuguese often prefers ir + infinitive (vou procurar) over this synthetic future.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Describes an action that will have been completed by some future moment.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Expresses hypothetical actions or polite requests.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Used in subordinate clauses after verbs of wish, doubt, emotion, or command.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in European Portuguese, used after se, quando, enquanto, and similar conjunctions when referring to the future.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

As procurar is regular, the personal infinitive is identical to the future subjunctive.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage: syntax and constructions

Procurar + direct object (NO preposition)

This is the default, everyday use. Procurar takes a direct object just like comprar or ver — not a prepositional complement as English "look for" does.

Procurar por — rare in European Portuguese

You will occasionally see procurar por (literally "look for by/through"), but in Portugal it sounds either like a calque from English or a Brazilianism. In formal EP, procurar alone is always preferable. The one context where por is natural is when the object is a person whose whereabouts are unknown, and even there native speakers often prefer procurar alone: procura pelo Rui lá fora feels slightly regional or colloquial.

Procurar-se — impersonal "wanted"

In classified ads and job listings, procurar appears in the impersonal reflexive to mean wanted or sought. The verb agrees with the thing being sought.

Note the agreement: singular object → singular verb (procura-se); plural object → plural verb (procuram-se).

Procurar vs buscar

This is where English and Brazilian Portuguese speakers stumble. In European Portuguese:

• procurar = to look for, to search for (the mental/visual act of searching)
• buscar = to go and fetch, to pick up (the physical act of retrieving something or someone)

If you say vou procurar as chaves, you mean you're going to search for them (you don't know where they are). If you say vou buscar as chaves, you mean you know where they are and you're going to fetch them.

In Brazilian Portuguese, buscar is also widely used in the sense of "search" (for example online: buscar no Google). In European Portuguese, "search on Google" is pesquisar no Google, not buscar.

Common collocations

• procurar ajuda / apoio / conselho — to seek help / support / advice
• procurar saber — to try to find out, to look into
• procurar emprego / trabalho / casa — to look for a job / work / a place to live
• procurar a felicidade / o sentido da vida — to seek happiness / the meaning of life
• à procura de — the noun phrase meaning "looking for": ando à procura de um bom café (I'm on the lookout for a good coffee)

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Procurar is a fully regular -ar verb. All forms follow the standard pattern.
• It takes a direct object without a preposition: procuro trabalho, not procuro por trabalho.
• The 1st person plural preterite is spelled procurámos in European Portuguese (with the acute accent), distinguishing it from the present procuramos.
• Procurar-se in the impersonal is how classified ads say "wanted": procura-se empregado, procuram-se voluntários.
• Distinguish procurar (search) from buscar (fetch, pick up) in European Portuguese.
• For online search, use pesquisar, not buscar or procurar.