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Estoy buscando mi pasaporte y el de mi esposo.

Estoy buscando mi pasaporte y el de mi esposo.
I am looking for my passport and my husband's.
From Lesson 140:Avoiding repetition (el de, la de, los de, las de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Estoy buscando mi pasaporte y el de mi esposo.

How does el de translate to 'my husband's'?
Spanish doesn't have an apostrophe 's' to show possession. Instead of repeating the word pasaporte, we literally say 'the of my husband' (meaning 'the one of my husband'). Because pasaporte is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular article el to replace it, followed by de (of).
Why isn't there a word for 'for' after buscando?
The verb buscar already means 'to look for' all by itself. English speakers often accidentally add por or para after it, but you don't need them! Buscando translates directly to 'looking for' just as it is.
If I were looking for my keys (las llaves) instead of a passport, how would the sentence change?
You would need to change el de to match the gender and number of the new noun. Since llaves is feminine and plural, you would use las de. The end of the sentence would become: ...mis llaves y las de mi esposo.
Could I say Busco instead of Estoy buscando?
Yes, you can! Busco can mean both 'I look for' and 'I am looking for'. However, using the present progressive form (estoy + buscando) is very common here because it emphasizes that you are actively in the middle of the search right now.

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