Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Qué estará buscando el mimo allí? - What could the mime be looking for there?

¿Qué estará buscando el mimo allí?

What could the mime be looking for there?

Breakdown of ¿Qué estará buscando el mimo allí?

estar

to be (location/state)

Questions & Answers about ¿Qué estará buscando el mimo allí?

Why is the future tense estará used here when the English translation says "could be looking" right now?

This is the future of conjecture, which fits your current lesson. In Spanish, the future progressive (estará plus the gerund buscando) is frequently used to wonder about, guess, or assume what is happening at this very moment. It translates to present-tense ideas like "might be looking," "must be looking," or "I wonder what he is looking for."

Why isn't there a word for "for" after buscando?

The verb buscar inherently means "to look for" or "to search for." Because the "for" is already built into the meaning of the verb, adding a preposition like por or para after buscando is a common mistake that you should avoid.

Could I put the subject el mimo before the verb, like ¿Qué el mimo estará buscando allí?

No, that would sound very unnatural. In Spanish questions that start with an interrogative word like qué, the verb phrase (estará buscando) almost always comes immediately after the question word, placing the subject (el mimo) after the verb.

Why use allí instead of ahí in this sentence?