Buscar means to look for / to search for, and it is the model citizen of -car spelling-change verbs. Conjugation-wise, it follows the standard -ar paradigm everywhere — except that the c of the stem changes to qu whenever the following ending begins with e. That swap is not a real irregularity; it is just orthography keeping the /k/ sound consistent. The same change governs sacar, tocar, atacar, practicar, publicar, educar, aparcar (peninsular for to park), acercar, equivocarse, colocar, and many others — so once you have buscar, you have a large family of useful verbs.
There is a second thing English speakers must internalize: buscar takes a direct object with no preposition. You say busco las llaves, not busco por las llaves and not busco para las llaves. The "for" is baked into the meaning of the verb itself.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | buscar | to look for |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber buscado | to have looked for |
| Gerundio | buscando | looking for |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo buscado | having looked for |
| Participio | buscado | looked for, sought |
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| busco | buscas | busca | buscamos | buscáis | buscan |
No spelling change is triggered in the present indicative because every ending begins with -a- or -o- (both compatible with c keeping its /k/ sound). The c stays.
Busco un piso en Lavapiés que no cueste un riñón.
I'm looking for a flat in Lavapiés that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Pretérito perfecto simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| busqué | buscaste | buscó | buscamos | buscasteis | buscaron |
This is the row where the famous spelling change appears: busqué, not buscé. The first-person yo ending -é starts with e, and Spanish orthography requires qu before e to preserve the /k/ sound. Without the change, buscé would be pronounced bus-the in peninsular Spanish.
Ayer busqué tu número por toda la agenda y al final lo encontré.
Yesterday I searched my whole contacts list for your number and finally found it.
Pretérito imperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| buscaba | buscabas | buscaba | buscábamos | buscabais | buscaban |
No spelling change in the imperfect — every ending begins with -a-.
Cuando éramos pequeños, buscábamos caracoles después de cada tormenta.
When we were little, we used to look for snails after every storm.
Futuro simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| buscaré | buscarás | buscará | buscaremos | buscaréis | buscarán |
No spelling change in the future, because the c is followed by -a- throughout (buscaré breaks as busc-aré, not buscé — the e belongs to the next syllable, not directly after the c).
Mañana buscaremos los billetes más baratos para Sevilla.
Tomorrow we'll look for the cheapest tickets to Seville.
Condicional
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| buscaría | buscarías | buscaría | buscaríamos | buscaríais | buscarían |
Yo buscaría otro abogado, este no parece muy serio.
I'd look for another lawyer — this one doesn't seem very reliable.
Indicative — compound tenses
All compound tenses pair haber with the perfectly regular participle buscado.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he buscado | has buscado | ha buscado | hemos buscado | habéis buscado | han buscado |
The Spain default for actions completed within an open time frame (today, this week, recently).
Te he buscado por toda la oficina, ¿dónde te habías metido?
I've been looking for you all over the office — where had you got to?
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había buscado | habías buscado | había buscado | habíamos buscado | habíais buscado | habían buscado |
Cuando por fin llamaron, ya habíamos buscado al perro por medio barrio.
By the time they finally called, we had already searched half the neighborhood for the dog.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré buscado | habrás buscado | habrá buscado | habremos buscado | habréis buscado | habrán buscado |
Para esta tarde ya habré buscado un sitio donde aparcar.
By this afternoon I'll have found somewhere to park.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría buscado | habrías buscado | habría buscado | habríamos buscado | habríais buscado | habrían buscado |
Habría buscado en otra zona si me hubieras dicho que aquí no había nada.
I would have looked in another area if you'd told me there was nothing here.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| busque | busques | busque | busquemos | busquéis | busquen |
The whole subjunctive paradigm shows the spelling change, because every ending begins with -e-: busque, busques, busque, busquemos, busquéis, busquen. There is no "extra" rule to memorize — the c changes to qu exactly when the next letter is e.
Quiero que busquéis un sitio más tranquilo para cenar.
I want you all to find a quieter place to have dinner.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | buscara | buscaras | buscara | buscáramos | buscarais | buscaran |
| -se | buscase | buscases | buscase | buscásemos | buscaseis | buscasen |
No spelling change in the imperfect subjunctive — endings start with -a-. Both -ra and -se sets are interchangeable; -ra dominates in Spain.
Me pidió que buscara la receta de su abuela.
She asked me to look for her grandmother's recipe.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya buscado | hayas buscado | haya buscado | hayamos buscado | hayáis buscado | hayan buscado |
Me parece raro que nadie haya buscado todavía a ese gato.
I find it strange that no one has looked for that cat yet.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera buscado | hubieras buscado | hubiera buscado | hubiéramos buscado | hubierais buscado | hubieran buscado |
| -se | hubiese buscado | hubieses buscado | hubiese buscado | hubiésemos buscado | hubieseis buscado | hubiesen buscado |
Si hubieras buscado bien, lo habrías encontrado.
If you'd looked properly, you would have found it.
Imperative
The spelling change reappears anywhere the imperative form ends in -e or -emos: busque (Vd.), busquen (Vds.), busquemos (nosotros). The tú and vosotros affirmative forms keep the c (busca, buscad) because their endings start with -a- or -d-.
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | busca | no busques |
| usted | busque | no busque |
| nosotros | busquemos | no busquemos |
| vosotros | buscad | no busquéis |
| ustedes | busquen | no busquen |
Buscad bien antes de tirar la toalla.
(to a group) Look properly before giving up.
No busques excusas, ven y cuéntamelo.
Don't look for excuses — come and tell me about it.
When you attach pronouns to an affirmative imperative, you may need a written accent: búscalo, búscame, buscadlos. With the reflexive vosotros form, the final -d drops before -os: buscaos (rare for buscar, but the rule pattern applies to verbs like callaos, sentaos).
Meanings beyond "to look for"
Buscar covers a wider semantic range than English look for. Worth knowing:
| Meaning | Example |
|---|---|
| look for, search for (physical or abstract) | Busco mis gafas. |
| seek, try to find (a job, a flat, a partner) | Busca trabajo desde hace meses. |
| pick (someone) up — go and collect them | Voy a buscar a los niños al cole. |
| look up (a word, a fact) — sometimes buscar en el diccionario | Busca esa palabra en el diccionario. |
| provoke, look for trouble (with reflexive buscarse) | Tú te lo has buscado. |
| aim at, be after something (with lo que busca es) | Lo que busca es que te enfades. |
The meaning go and pick someone up (sense 3) is essential in Spain: parents van a buscar a los niños every afternoon, friends te buscan en el aeropuerto. English speakers gravitate to recoger, which is also used in Spain (and may even be the dominant verb in some regions), but ir a buscar is the more idiomatic, register-neutral choice and the one most learners need to add to their repertoire.
¿Vienes a buscarme a la estación o cojo el metro?
Are you coming to pick me up at the station, or shall I take the metro?
No me busques porque me vas a encontrar.
(idiomatic warning) Don't push me — you'll find out what happens.
High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spanish
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| buscar trabajo | to look for a job |
| buscar piso | to look for a flat |
| buscar pareja | to look for a partner |
| ir a buscar a alguien | to go and pick someone up |
| buscarse la vida | (very common in Spain) to fend for oneself, to figure things out |
| buscarle tres pies al gato | (idiom) to overcomplicate things, to nitpick |
| buscar una aguja en un pajar | to look for a needle in a haystack |
| buscarse problemas / líos | to look for trouble |
| quien busca, encuentra | (proverb) seek and you shall find |
Llevo dos años buscándome la vida en Madrid y no me va nada mal.
I've been making my way in Madrid for two years now, and I'm doing pretty well.
No le busques tres pies al gato, es más sencillo de lo que parece.
Don't overthink it — it's simpler than it looks.
The classic English-speaker error
English look for contains a preposition (for), and English speakers reflexively translate it as buscar por or buscar para. This is wrong. Buscar is a transitive verb in Spanish: the thing being sought is its direct object, with no preposition between.
- Busco las llaves. — I'm looking for the keys. (No por, no para.)
- Busco trabajo. — I'm looking for a job.
- Estoy buscando un piso. — I'm looking for a flat.
The only preposition that legitimately appears after buscar is a with human direct objects (the a personal): Busco a mi hermano (I'm looking for my brother). That a is not the equivalent of English for; it is the obligatory personal a that marks human direct objects in Spanish — unrelated to the verb's meaning.
You may also see buscar en (to look inside / within something): busco en el cajón (I'm looking inside the drawer). That en is locative, not part of the verb's argument structure.
Common Mistakes
❌ Busco por mis llaves.
Buscar is transitive — no preposition between the verb and the object.
✅ Busco mis llaves.
I'm looking for my keys.
❌ Ayer buscé un piso por internet.
The -car spelling change requires busqué in the preterite yo form.
✅ Ayer busqué un piso por internet.
Yesterday I looked for a flat online.
❌ Quiero que busces tu pasaporte.
The -car change applies in the subjunctive too — busques, not busces.
✅ Quiero que busques tu pasaporte.
I want you to look for your passport.
❌ Buscáis a vuestra hermana en la estación.
The vosotros affirmative imperative is buscad, not buscáis (which is the present indicative).
✅ Buscad a vuestra hermana en la estación. / No busquéis a vuestra hermana en la estación.
Pick up your sister at the station. / Don't pick up your sister at the station.
❌ Busco mi hermano por todo el parque.
With a human direct object, Spanish requires the personal a. Both the missing a and the extra por are wrong.
✅ Busco a mi hermano por todo el parque.
I'm looking for my brother all over the park. (Personal a is obligatory with human direct objects; por here is locative — through, around — not the wrong 'for' calque, and is fine.)
Key Takeaways
- Buscar is a regular -ar verb except for the c → qu spelling change before any e (busqué, busque, busquemos, busquéis).
- The change is orthographic, not phonetic — it exists to preserve the /k/ sound.
- Buscar takes a direct object with no preposition: busco las llaves, never busco por las llaves.
- The only prepositions legitimately following buscar are a (personal a with people) and en (locative).
- The vosotros affirmative imperative is buscad; the negative is no busquéis.
- In Spain, ir a buscar a alguien is the natural way to say pick someone up; buscarse la vida is a core idiom for to get by, to figure things out.
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