Buscamos el casco alrededor de la cascada.

Questions & Answers about Buscamos el casco alrededor de la cascada.

Why do we use alrededor de here instead of por to mean 'around'?
Alrededor de is used specifically for a spatial trajectory that circles or surrounds a perimeter. If you said por la cascada, it would mean you looked 'in the general vicinity of' the waterfall, rather than actively searching in a circle around its edges.
Why isn't it buscamos por el casco?
The verb buscar has the word 'for' built right into its meaning: 'to look for' or 'to search for'. Adding por after it is a very common trap for English speakers, but you should always put the object directly after the verb.
Is buscamos in the present tense or the past tense here?
It translates to the past tense (preterite) here, but it looks exactly like the present tense! For all regular -ar verbs, the nosotros (we) ending is -amos in both tenses. In real life, you rely on context clues from the conversation to know if it means 'we look' or 'we looked'.
Why does alrededor need de after it?
Many Spanish location phrases use a noun to describe space, requiring de (of) to connect it to the object. The word rededor means 'surroundings', so alrededor de la cascada literally translates to 'at the surroundings of the waterfall'. This is why you can't skip the de.

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